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A Roseau Magistrate has upheld a request by the prosecution to deny bail to Kirsty Alric Tedric Pacquette of 57 Great Marlborough Street\/ Bellevue Rawle<\/p>\n
Pacquette, a Customs Officer attached to the Woodbridge Bay Port, was arrested on April 7, 2021, on a charge of trafficking firearms and several customs-related offenses.<\/p>\n
On the charge of \u201ctrafficking \u201c, he was not required to enter a plea since it is an indictable offense.<\/p>\n
According to court documents Pacquette did engage in the unlawful trafficking of one Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol serial #HFR0175, one Sig Sauer P232 Pmm pistol serial #S319856, ONE Sig Sauer p938 9mm pistol serial #52B196960, one Taurus PT100 AFS pistol serial #SXG97289, one Taurus Revolver serial #EY51815. one Taurus G2S 9mm pistol # ABB300258, one Smith & Wesson pistol serial #MPY0461, one Black Ruger pistol serial #unknown, one Ruger P85 9mm pistol serial #302-22451, one Smith & Wesson pistol serial #X7178390, one masterpiece Arms Sub Machine gun (SMG) serial # FX00592, one Masterpiece Arms Sub Machine gun (SMG) serial #A13977, one Keltec Sub Machine Gun (SMG) serial #EJP22, one Omni Hybrid Multi-Cal Assault Rifle serial #NS199650, one black noise suppressor and fourteen magazines.<\/p>\n
He is also charged with two counts of having a \u201cprohibited weapon\u201d which are summary charges to which he pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n
On the two Customs related charges, he was charged with the importation of the said 14 firearms and packaging\u00a0 them in a manner to deceive a Customs Officer. The other Customs charges is a false declaration to Customs by submitting to them a Customs & Excise Simplified Declaration Form bearing waybill # HBOL1538 registration number 2021\/171 of 26\/03\/2021 which is false in a material particular.<\/p>\n
His lawyer, Wayne Norde, made an application for bail but the prosecution, headed by Police Inspector Davidson Cadette, objected, telling the court that given the severity of the offenses before the court, the prosecution feared that if bail was granted, the accused could be a flight risk.<\/p>\n
Cadette also argued that there is \u201ca large public outcry and concern with respect to illegal firearms and ammunition in the hands of ordinary citizens and there is a serious public discourse and outrage with respect to the illegal firearms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norde, on the other hand, told the court that while he understands and appreciates the issue of the public outcry and concern regarding illegal firearms and ammunitions, he is encouraging the court not to punish the defendant and use its discretion in deciding whether to grant or not grant bail.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to our Constitution, the defendant is innocent until proven guilty, so just as the defense appreciates and understands the grounds of public interest, we are asking the court to understand and appreciate this long time adage in the law that you are innocent until proven guilty,\u201d Norde said.<\/p>\n
In response, Magistrate Michael Laduat stated that the court does not operate in a \u201cvacuum\u201d and agreed that there has been strong public outcry on the wanton use and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.<\/p>\n
He, however, issued a strong warning to the prosecution that they must ensure that while the defendant is on remand, the engine of the State should not be at \u201ca standstill\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe needs to get his justice within a reasonable time,\u201d Magistrate Laudat stated.<\/p>\n
He also referred them to Section 8 (2) of Dominica Constitution which speaks about a speedy trial when charged. He then told Pacquette that it was not in the public\u2019s interest that he be given bail.<\/p>\n
Laudat stated that bail will be reviewed on May 10, 2021, and ordered that the prosecution make full disclosure to the defense on or before May 7, 2021. He said the defense must also be given full access to all exhibits of the prosecution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Roseau Magistrate has upheld a request by the prosecution to deny bail to Kirsty Alric Tedric Pacquette of 57 Great Marlborough Street\/ Bellevue Rawle Pacquette, a Customs Officer attached to the Woodbridge Bay Port, was arrested on April 7,…","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":137789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,235,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-266194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-court-law","category-homepage-carousel","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n