Archive for January 8th, 2009

Henry-Ricketts say not guilty

(CNS): The two men accused of murdering Estella Scott-Roberts on 11 October 2008 appeared in Grand Court yesterday and entered a not guilty plea to the charge of murder. Although Kirkland Henry (27) and Larry Ricketts (25), both Jamaican nationals, also stand accused of other charges including rape, abduction and robbery, the men were not arraigned for those charges on the request of their defence attorneys.

On the first day of this year’s Grand Court session (Wednesday 7 January) the two men appeared before Justice Alex Henderson at the end of a long docket. Henry and Ricketts, who are currently on remand at HMP Northward, were brought in to the court room surrounded by heavy security from both police and HMP officers. Once their pleas were recorded, Justice Henderson set the trial date for 3 August 2009. He queried whether the ten day period set aside was long enough for the trial as some 34 potential witnesses were listed to appear.

However, the defence attorneys both said that it was unlikely that all the witnesses would be called as much of the testimony would be similar, and that two weeks should be a sufficient time for the trial. Henry is being represented by attorney Ben Tonner and John Furniss is representing Ricketts. Both men will be arraigned regarding the other charges against them at a later date.

Both men were arrested by police on Monday, 27 October, over two weeks after the body of local activist and Cable and Wireless communications manager Scott-Roberts was found in her burnt out car in the dykes area of Barkers in West Bay.

William McLaughlin- Martinez, the man charged with the murder of Brian Rankine, whose naked and mutilated body, the result of a machete attack, was found in a car park at McField Lane in George Town in May of last year, also entered a not guilty plea to the charge of murder, which was read out to him in court. His trial date has been set for 7 July.

Josue Perez–Carrillo who has been charged with the murder of Canadian national Martin Gareau, whose badly beaten body was found in his home in Beach Bay in May of this year, also appeared before Henderson. However, his case was adjourned when his defence counsel, Anthony Akiwumi, explained that he would be engaging in legal argument with the crown and seeking a motion to have the indictment quashed, the details of which were not revealed in the court room.

Following the official opening of the grand court in the morning, Henderson began the afternoon proceedings with the jurors and fined five people $500 each who failed to turn up for the session. He then worked through a long list of mentions and indictments covering sexual offences, firearms charges, wounding and robberies.

Continue Reading

SPITtakes centre stage at Grand Court opening

(CNS): The official ceremonial opening of the Grand Court for 2009 was dominated by the issues relating to the Special Police Investigation Team (SPIT) and Operation Tempura. The Chief Justice Anthony Smellie criticized SIO Martin Bridger directly and presidents of both the Caymanian Bar Association and the Cayman Law Society criticized the arrest of Justice Alex Henderson, questioned the investigation and called on the governor to reaffirm his support for the judiciary. Smellie was particularly emphatic in his condemnation of Henderson’s arrest as well as Bridger’s public statements.

“The regrettable, unlawful and ill-conceived arrest of Justice Henderson remains a subject of sustained public criticism and concern,” the CJ Anthony Smellie said, adding that the legal profession should demand full accountability from all persons responsible. “The misconduct alleged in the arrest was not and could not have amounted to an offence in the first place. Not only was the arrest therefore unlawful, it was also without any reasonable or proper basis. It is fundamentally important that the public should understand this, otherwise the impression might linger that although misconduct in public office may not be an arrestable offence, some such offence was nonetheless involved,” Smellie stated.

He noted that there was serious concern regarding the public statements made by Bridger in relation to the publication of the judgments which refused search warrants for the Operation Tempura investigation.  “Those judgments, like all judgments of the Court, immediately became public documents in the absence of any application and any order granted to embargo their publication. No such application was made. It seems this failing, if such it was, occurred because of yet another misunderstanding of the law – although it is in essence the same in Cayman as in England – relating to such matters.”

Smellie went on to criticize Bridger’s statement on 9 October 2008 seeking to bring into question what Bridger had described as the CJ’s authorization of the publication of the judgments.  “That, it must be said, was neither exemplary nor professional behaviour on the part of a police officer whose sworn duty requires him to respect the Courts and to observe the laws of the land. It was all the more troubling coming, as it did, from an experienced officer such as Mr Bridger. It was a matter about which I wrote immediately to H.E. the Governor, registering my concern.  I still await a response,” Smellie told the audience gathered for the ceremonial motion to open the Grand Court.

Alasdair Robertson presented the President of the Law Society Charles Jennings’ speech, which also criticized the Investigation and called on the governor to offer his support to the judiciary. He said the governor needed to confirm publicly that,with the possible exception of the upcoming Commission of Enquiry (concerning Justice Priya Levers)  he had no further problem with the judiciary, and announce unequivocally that he continues to have every confidence in the Bench and in the administration of justice in the Cayman Islands. 

“Let’s draw a line beneath it as soon as we can, hopefully reinforced by a statement of confidence in the judiciary by the governor, and move on.  We are going to have enough challenges this year not to waste further time and money on distractions like this” Jennings stated.

He noted that Justice Henderson should never have been arrested. “The fact that it did shows that aspects of the investigation were ill-advised and fundamentally misconceived.  The positive point, I suppose, is that the rule of law did at least prevail in time to save the jurisdiction and various individuals any further embarrassment and I hope we can say, in light of the recent apologies of both the visiting senior investigating officer and the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, that that particular aspect of the investigation is at a close,” Jennings added.

James Bergstrom, the President of the Caymanian Bar Association, said the actions taken by the investigation team were found to have been improper, illegal and an abuse of process, and had raised real concerns aside from the improper arrest of a sitting Grand Court Judge.  Bergstrom said there had been a lack of clear oversight and direction, a lack of transparency on the subject of the investigation, a lack of proportionality regarding the action taken, and the length and cost of the investigation were also of concern.

“The consequent damage to the perception and reputation of Cayman as an international jurisdiction is, as of now, uncertain.  But the fact that much of this damage will have been caused by the world wide publicity attending the improper arrest of the judge heightens those concerns,” Bergstrom added.

“We all patiently await the report by the investigation team and any remedial action that will be taken so we can put this behind us, move on and try to repair the damage that has been done to the administration of justice in these Islands.”

The day’s proceedings also involved a considerable reflection on the many legal issues raised in 2008, as well as the challenges facing the judiciary in the coming year.

Keep checking CNS for more reports from the Grand Court opening this week

Continue Reading