Archive for November, 2010
Court of Appeal to make decision on killers Monday
(CNS): Following over two days of arguments regarding the murder conviction of Kirkland Henry and Larry Ricketts the three appeal court judges will announced their decision on the safety of the convictions on Monday. The two men who were found guilty of the murder of Estella-Scott Roberts in February of this year by the Chief Justice following a judge alone trial. The two men between them brought nine grounds of appeal suggesting the country’s top judge had either misdirected himself in his written verdict or had erred in judgment. After the submissions from the convicted killer’s QC’s Cheryl Richard QC, the solicitor general defended the CJ’s ruling saying there was no miscarriage of justice. (Photos Dennie Warren Jr, left Henry – below Ricketts)
She told the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal that based on the strength of the evidence the trial judge had satisfied himself that the men were guilty and the convictions were safe. “The CJ carefully addressed his mind to the issues,” Richards said as she highlighted the judge’s deliberations.
One of the main issues argued by Henry’s defence counsel was that he had never been part of a joint enterprise to kill despite pleading guilty to abduction, rape and robbery. When the murder happened he withdrew from the crime and Scott-Roberts had died at the hand of Ricketts, he 
claimed.
However, Cheryl pointed out that even if the goal had never been to murder, Henry had shared the spoils of the crime by taking her phone, laptop and sharing the cash found in her bag and had done nothing more than claim to walk a little away from the scene of the murder. She said that Henry remained very much part of a continuing and evolving criminal enterprise which ended in the murder of Scott-Roberts.
She also argued that the confession given by Ricketts to the police could not have been concocted as the appellant claimed and pointed to the CJs deliberations on the issue. Richards explained that Ricketts had taken the stand meaning that it was not just the evidence from two police officers about the interview that the judge had considered but evidence and the behaviour of the defendant as well, when he drew the conclusion that the interview was genuine and Ricketts had “resolved to make a clean breast of it,” as the judge had revealed in his ruling. Richards said there was nothing to suggest that the judge’s findings were in any way unreasonable.
No parliamentary questions ready admits premier
(CNS): Government’s failure to answer opposition and independent members’ questions was the first issued raised on what turned out to be a heated session of the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday as it resumed its business. Alden McLaughlin asked why it was that there were no questions listed on the day’s order paper to be answered by the government. The George Town MLA pointed out that between them the members on the opposition benches had some 14 questions listed for the current sitting but government had only answered five of them. He reminded the House that it was through questions to government that the opposition primarily fulfilled its proper function.
The premier said that there were no questions listed because the answers were not ready and as the opposition member knew it took a lot of work and research to answer parliamentary questions and the civil servants were still doing that research.
The George Town MLA pointed out, however, that the questions had been submitted more than a month ago and he was concerned that again the questions would not be answered publicly on the floor of the Legislative Assembly within the current sitting. This, he said, would mean the ministers would be answering in writing after the House adjourned and not in the parliamentary forum as they should be.
When ministers fail to answer a member’s question publicly in the Legislative Assembly during a sitting, the Standing Orders require them to write to the minister with the answer. This means the questioner cannot ask supplementary questions and that the answers are not in the public domain unless they are released by either the minister or the poser of the question. Given the rules of parliament, the opposition is limited in how it can act as a check and balance on government and the questions are one method they can use to raise the concerns of their constituents.
McLaughlin pointed out that the vast majority of questions asked by the opposition in the last sitting were not answered on the floor of the Legislative Assembly and he was concerned the same thing would happen again.
“Only five of the fourteen questions have yet been answered … and it is likely a significant number of them will go unanswered yet again,” McLaughlin said, adding that there should be a sense of urgency in having questions answered. “The questions allow the opposition to function properly … otherwise the opposition and the country is at a disadvantage.”
The premier said that the questions had to be researched properly and that they would be answered. He denied that government was trying to avoid answering the questions but said the research had to be done. He said that if the questions were not answered the opposition could re-submit.
Arden McLean pointed out that he had attempted to do this with questions from the previous sitting but the Legislative Assembly staff had prevented him from doing so, saying he must wait three months before a question can be resubmitted.
“All I am trying to do is get answers from government but I haven’t got them yet,” the member for East End said.
Police swarm Seven Mile Beach resort
(CNS): A police operation that involved armed officers took place on Wednesday afternoon at one of Grand Cayman’s most popular tourist spots. Several members of different RCIPS units arrested at least two women at the Treasure Island resort on Seven Mile Beach. Police have not yet confirmed the details of this operation as it is but it is believed to be drug related. According to reports on Cayman 27, sources at the scene told the news crew it was a drug bust and that two men were also taken into custody by the RCIPS along with the women shown on film.
Top government officials trapped in lift
(CNS): The chief officer from the Portfolio of Internal Affairs and the chief immigration officer were both trapped in an elevator that malfunctioned on Wednesday evening after a visit to the Cayman Islands Law School. The Fire Service was called out to release Franz Manderson and Linda Evans and four others from the law school when the lift was trapped between two floors. Local activist, and more recently PPC student, Sandra Catron, said the two government officials had given a guest lecture at the law school on immigration law. Catron, along with Manderson and Evans, as well as three other students were stuck in the elevator for more then 40 minutes before officers were able to release them. (Photo Dennie WarrenJr)
Catron pointed out that the emergency call button in the elevator went through to a service centre in the USA, where the operator was unable to help as she did not recognize the Cayman Islands location. Catron said she turned, to her Blackberry and was able to message several people and ask for assistance. Luckily, those people contacted the authorities, who were then able to send the emergency services to assist.
“I’m delighted that we were all able to get out safely,” Catron said. “Everyone remained calm and totally professional. In fact, at the time we made light of the situation as I updated my Facebook status.”
She added that the Fire Service was very professional. “I think at times like this you really appreciate that department; which often goes unseen and underappreciated. The one constructive comment I would make is that local elevators should have their calls routed to a local monitoring company and not overseas. This would allow for faster rescue efforts and a better understanding of where the personis located,” Catron told CNS.
Opposition walk out of LA
(CNS): Following a heated exchange between the premier and the member for East End, the entire opposition walked out of the Legislative Assembly in a show of party solidarity on Wednesday afternoon. During the debate on the Tax Concessions (Amendment) Bill, Arden McLean said the changes to the law had some worrying implications and suggested the premier was seeking to circumvent the rule of law. Protesting to the speaker, McKeeva Bush loudly demanded that the opposition member withdraw the accusation. However, McLean refused to do so and as a result the speaker asked him to leave. In a gesture of support his four opposition colleagues went with him. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)
With the independent member for North Side absent from the chamber overseas, that left the government facing empty opposition benches as it pushed through legislation which will enable Cabinet to exempt any company, not just offshore exempted companies, from any future new taxes that could be introduced without consulting the parliament.
Before the opposition walkout the premier had given a very brief introduction to the bill saying it would be a tool which government could use to offer future incentives to new business that may be attracted to the islands. Bush said it was a positive amendment and one which would be easy for the opposition to support.
However, responding to the presentation and the bill itself, the East End member said he was puzzled that the premier would think it would be easy for them to support given the obvious concerns regarding the legislation.
McLean pointed out that it was essentially giving the premier the power to offer anyone tax exemptions behind closed doors in Cabinet without any indication of the criteria for that exemption. He suggested that, should government introduce a tax and then offer concessions to one company trading in the Cayman Islands but not another, it was easy to see how that would be competitively unfair.
“For example, if someone was to come along and want to build a port in East End, well then, the premier could circumvent the law …,” McLean said before the premier leapt to his feet and accused the opposition member of being in Never-Neverland and called on the Speaker of the House. Mary Lawrence asked McLean to withdraw the statement as she said no member was allowed to impugn another.
However, McLean said that he was not prepared to withdraw what he said given that the premier had recently gone on television and admitted openly that he was prepared to circumvent the law when he felt it was necessary, as he had recently regarding the Central Tenders Committee.
The speaker insisted that the member withdraw the comment, and when McLean continued to refuse she called an abrupt adjournment and asked him to go to her office. She later returned and announced that the East End MLA was still refusing to withdraw the comment and she then asked the member to leave the House for the rest of the afternoon’s proceedings.
Although McLean pointed out that the procedure was incorrect, not wishing to escalate the situation, he and all of his colleagues collected their papers and left together.
Bush insisted that McLean’s comments were struck from the record before he accused the opposition of playing to the gallery and attempting to upstage government. He said the accusations about the bill gave a false impression to the country. “Do they think that if there was something untoward about a certificate the governor would sign it,” Bush asked the empty opposition bench. He said there was nothing new in the law but he said the country had an opposition that was trying to destroy the government.
Following the adjournment of the House, the opposition denied playing to the gallery and pointed out that they walkout was because all of the PPM members were in support of McLean’s comments and believed that the bill was an attempt to circumvent democracy.
McLean said there were significant future implications with the bill and he would not allow the premier to truncate the future of the country without raising his objections. “I was hired to protect the interests of the people of this country, especially the people of East End,” said McLean. “The people sent me there to represent them and I’m going to do it the best way I know how and I will speak up as government is trying to circumvent every tenet of democracy we have.”
His colleague Alden McLaughlin raised serious questions about the bill’s implications and said that the walkout was not a performance but was because the member for East End should have been allowed to make his point. “What this is all about is conferring yet another power on Cabinet to make decisions behind closed doors,” McLaughlin said.
Mac blames industry on dormant accounts law issues
(CNS): The premier has said it was the failure of the representatives in the financial industry to respond to government at the appropriate time that has led to the need for substantive amendments to a law passed only four months ago. The controversy surrounding the Dormant Accounts Bill 2010, which was passed in July, continued in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday morning when McKeeva Bush said government had reached out to some thirteen industry bodies before the law, which will allow government to take unclaimed cash and property from local financial institutions, was written but only the Bankers Association had responded.
He suggested financial entities on the island were reluctant to give up the abandoned cash and had deliberately sought to delay the law by ignoring government’s requests. The premier indicated that it was not until the bill was enacted that the industry then came “running to government” with its suggestions. He said that despite their response after the fact, government had demonstrated that it was still more than willing to listen and address their concerns, and so had now brought the amendments.
Contrary to the accusations made by the opposition, Bush said, there had been extensive consultation with the industry before the law was brought to the Legislative Assembly, but it was the associations and representatives that had opted not to engage with government. He said government had discussed the proposed legislation at length with the CI Bankers Association.
Bush told his legislative colleagues that he had got a "shellacking" over the bill and was accused of rushing it through, but he said government circulated proposals in April and it was the industry not government that was at fault. He said he hoped lessons had been learned on both sides – government and private sector — and that next time the stakeholders would come forward in the time frame given. He also said he hoped that the financial sector could see government was willing to listen to their concerns and had acted on them immediately.
“Every effort has been made now to accommodate their concerns while still achieving government’s goal of gaining access to abandoned property,” Bush said. “We wish we had received feedback from the private sector during the consultation period … I hope next time government proposes new legislation we receive more robust responses before it is debated in the Legislative Assembly.”
During its response to the amended legislation the opposition noted that this time it had been given an adequate consultation period to examine the changes and were happy to support them.
Noting the unusual circumstances, even for “this government”, Alden McLaughlin said that four months after it was passed government was bringing 17 pages of amendments for a law that was 17 pages in the first place. He added that when the original bill was brought, the opposition had only one day’s notice to look at a bill that turned out to be nothing short of disastrous.
Even government’s own committee had described the bill as “fundamentally flawed and unworkable”, he stated, adding that he was stunned that the government would have risked bringing the law with such potentially dangerous consequences for the country’s main industry.
The George Town MLA said the opposition had pointed out the dangers of the bill and the problems of rushing such important legislation without consultation when the premier brought the law before the House in July, but he had not listened. “This is the clearest evidence yet that it is unwise to dismiss everything from the opposition benches as politics as the premier has a tendency to do,” McLaughlin noted.
The opposition member said it was impossible to measure the fallout from the government bringing the flawed legislation but he was certain it would not be positive, especially when it could have been avoided through proper open consultation.
“Speed is no substitute for accuracy,” McLaughlin said and took government to task over what he described as an attitude of “do it now and fix it later” with the country’s key industry. He noted, however, that at least the government had the forthrightness to come to the Legislative Assembly and put right its mistakes.
Robbers wore party masks
(CNS): Updated 5:30pm – Police have now released descriptions of the three armed men who robbed Butterfield Bank (Cayman) on North Sound Road this morning. Police said the gunmen were all wearing Halloween party masks one of which was said to be of the US president Barack Obama. The three suspects are all described as having dark complexions and were wearing dark clothing. During the robbery which occurred around 11:20am staff were threatened and one shot was fired into the ceiling before the robbers escaped with an undisclosed sum of cash. Although police did not reveal how the robbers made their escape road blocks were set up in the surrounding area and the Air Operations Unit was deployed in the search for the suspects. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)
The RCIPS said only one of the three men appeared to be armed with a handgun and although staff were shaken and one was taken to hospital no one was injured. News27, reporting live from the scene in the immediate wake of the robbery interviewed a wtiness who was at the ATM when she heard a sound within the bank. When she looked she saw everyone was on the ground and knew it was a bank robbery. She said she ran away and called 911.
Butterfield released a statement this afternoon stating that it was unable to confirm official details but that the Compass Banking Centre was closed for the remainder of the day. "We can report our staff and customers are safe and that the Banking Centre is secure. Butterfield management is working with the RCIP and will continue to provide updates as they become available. The safety of our staff and our customers is our number one priority, at this time," the bank stated.
The bank went on to say that a formal communication will be released to the press as soon as additional information is confirmed.
Anyone with any information about this crime should call George Town police station on 949-
4222 or the confidential Crime Stoppers number 800-8477(TIPS).
Many fat women think they are slim
(Daily Telegraph): An American study questioned over 2,000 women about their size, diet and exercise habits and took measurements. It found that many women were often unaware about whether they were a healthy weight or not. Co-author Dr Mahbubur Rahman, of University of Texas, said: "As obesity numbers climb, many women identify overweight as normal, not based on the scale but on how they view themselves." It was found that 25 per cent of overweight women misjudged their body weight along with 16 per cent of normal weight women. The findings have serious consequences for obesity prevention, the researchers said, as many women do not recognise they are overweight and so will not join programmes.
Scientists say early universe was primordial ‘soup’
(TG Daily): The ALICE detector team at CERN has discovered that the very early universe consisted of a hot, dense liquid, rather than a gas. By colliding lead nuclei together at the Large Hadron Collider, the ALICE experiment generated sub-atomic fireballs with a temperature of over ten trillion degrees, mimicking conditions during the first moments of the existence of the universe. At these temperatures, normal matter is expected to melt into a primordial ‘soup’ known as quark-gluon plasma. Althoughprevious research indicated that the fireballs behaved like a liquid, many expected the quark-gluon plasma to act like a gas at these much higher energies.
"Although it is very early days, we are already learning more about the early universe," says Dr David Evans, of the University of Birmingham and UK lead investigator for ALICE. "These firstresults would seem to suggest that the universe would have behaved like a super-hot liquid immediately after the Big Bang."
Howell returns to court in company battle
(Jamaica Gleaner): Lawyers for the Turks and Caicos Islands-based firm, First Financial Caribbean Trust, have asked the courts in Jamaica to cite for contempt, and possibly jail, businessmen Delroy Howell and Kenarthur Mitchell for allegedly snubbing a Jamaican judge’s order that they account for nearly US$14 million in assets claimed by the TCI firm. The amount includes, the plaintiff alleges, US$3.7 million, which is part of the estimated US$11 million that Jamaica National group paid Howell for his Cayman Islands based Quickcash money transfer company, as well as a Jamaican property. But yesterday Paul Beswick, the lawyer for Howell and Mitchell, described the application as "completely baseless and without merit".
"I can assure you that the lawyers for the complainants know that it is utter nonsense," Beswick told Wednesday Business. If the court finds Howell, Mitchell and their firms in contempt, the complainant wants an order that they be sent to prison or fined and their assets confiscated.