[UPDATE] Judges tell Griffith as drug case fails: Discipline absent cops

A day after Police Commissioner Gary Griffith accused the Judiciary of failing law-abiding citizens, he has been told by two judges to put his house in order.

On Friday, Justices of Appeal Alice Yorke-Soo Hon and Maria Wilson said the police needed to put things in place to deal with officers who do not treat cases seriously.

They were presiding in an appeal by the State of a magistrate’s decision to discharge a drug possession charge against a Woodbrook man. He was accused of having over 400 grammes of marijuana.

In their oral ruling, the judges said magistrates had to look at the overall picture of the number of times a case has been pending when deciding to dismiss a matter because the police fail to show up in court for a trial.

The magistrate had been accused of unreasonably exercising his discretion to throw out the drug case and of not properly considering the public interest aspect of having serious matters adjudicated by a court.

The judges said the public interest aspect went to both sides especially when looking at the issue of dealing with cases expeditiously.

Wilson, who delivered the ruling, said when looking at the history of the matter, the number of times it was called was excessive.

But, she said, the court couldn’t look at the numbers game alone and must, at some point, decide the matter must go on. She said the police officer was aware of this and because of the number of adjournments, the magistrate was entitled to look at the overall picture of how long the case had been pending.

She also said it was incumbent on the prosecution always to be in a state of readiness for trial.

Grell was represented by Larry Williams and Shaun Morris.

In calling for the police to get serious with errant cops, Yorke-Soo Hon said, “The matter was called on 46 occasions over a period of seven years. On 20 occasions, it was set for trial. When we talk about how justice appears, we have to balance the scales on both sides.”

State attorney Nigel Pilgrim had also argued that the magistrate did not give weight to a request by the prosecution for a one-week adjournment; or that in the 46 times the case was called, the police were ready on 20 of those occasions, while the defence, up to the date the matter was dismissed, still had not filed its defence statement.

The case against Lindsey Grell was called 46 times over seven years. He had been charged on December 19, 2010. The officer who charged him missed court seven times when the matter was set for trial and when it was dismissed in 2017, he had asked for an adjournment since he had to sit a police promotions exam the next day.

During the appeal, Pilgrim argued that the court was not a disciplinary board for the police service, nor did it “look good” or serve the justice system when serious matters are dismissed without a hearing.

Pilgrim agreed that a culture change was needed on the part of the police and police prosecution, but insisted the magistrate’s decision was not proportionate.

“I am not advocating for a system of perennial delays, but on several occasions the prosecution was ready, yet the matter did not proceed,” he said, adding that the police officer was present a lot more times than he was absent.

As they upheld the magistrate’s decision, the judges credited senior magistrate Aden Stroude, who dismissed the matter for want of prosecution, for his “well-thought-out” reasons for his decision.

Co-incidentally, Stroude was the magistrate accused by the Police Commissioner in 2019, of “bullying” his officers in court.

Griffith also accused the judicial system of favouring the criminal element.

On Thursday, he again accused the Judiciary of sheltering people on firearm offences from the full brunt of the law.

In a post on his official Facebook page, the Commissioner said, “It is absurd that persons who break the law and illegally acquire firearms and ammunition, almost certainly for the purpose of perpetrating other crimes, are consistently convicted by this country’s magistrates and judges and only made to pay infinitesimal fines for one of the most serious offences within the jurisdiction.”

Griffith asked, “Is it that we are allowing criminals back onto our nation’s streets for the cost of simply one or two month’s salary?

“This judicial reasoning seems illogical in light of the fact much harsher penalties are enforced for offences such as larceny and white-collar crime which are non-violent and do not deprive peaceable, law-abiding citizens of their right to life and compromise the safety of their person.”

The issue of police officers failing to attend court, resulting in cases being thrown out, has been a bugbear for decades. It was recently highlighted when it was revealed that 35 charges for rape and assault had been dismissed in favour of one of the men implicated in the kidnapping and murder of Andrea Bharatt. The police bungled the case by having no file and not being ready.

Last month, a Freeport housewife filed a High Court action and got permission to challenge a decision to end disciplinary action against the police officer in charge of an investigation into her husband’s death in a road accident. The officer had missed court eight times and the charge against the driver who allegedly caused the accident was dismissed.

In its annual report for 2019, the Police Service Commission (PSC) revealed the courts had thrown out 1,843 cases because the police complainant – the officer who lays charges against an accused and is responsible for ensuring all state witnesses attend court – did not attend hearings.

The report was laid in Parliament in October last year, and said 793 of the dismissed cases were for serious crimes.

In February, Griffith said a flawed and failed judicial system was at fault.

Later that month, Griffith said there had been an 80 per cent overall improvement in police officers attending court, with some divisions recording an improvement of over 90 per cent.

This story was originally published with the title "State loses appeal over police absence from court" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

MAGISTRATES are entitled to look at the overall picture of the number of times a case has been pending when deciding to dismiss a matter because the police fail to show up in court for a trial.

This was the decision of the Court of Appeal on Friday as it dismissed the State's appeal of a magistrate’s decision to discharge a drug possession charge against a Woodbrook man. He was accused of having over 400 grammes of marijuana.

State attorney Nigel Pilgrim had argued that the magistrate failed to take into account the seriousness of the offence and the public interest aspect of having the case tried in court; did not give weight to a request by the prosecution for a one-week adjournment; or that in the 46 times the case was called, the police were ready on 20 of those occasions, while the defence, up to the date the matter was dismissed, still had not filed its defence statement.

But in an oral decision, Justices of Appeal Alice Yorke-Soo Hon and Maria Wilson said public interest goes to both sides especially when looking at the issue of dealing with cases expeditiously.

The case against Lindsey Grell was called 46 times over seven years. He had been charged on December 19, 2010. The officer who charged him missed court seven times when the matter was set for trial and when it was dismissed in 2017, he had asked for an adjournment since he had to sit a police promotions exam the next day.

Wilson, who delivered the ruling, said when looking at the history of the matter, the number of times it was called was excessive.

But, she said, the court couldn’t look at the numbers game alone and must, at some point, decide the matter must go on. She said the police officer was aware of this and because of the number of adjournments, the magistrate was entitled to look at the overall picture of how long the case had been pending.

She also said it was incumbent on the prosecution always to be in a state of readiness for trial.

The judges credited senior magistrate Aden Stroude, who dismissed the matter for want of prosecution, for his “well-thought-out” reasons for his decision.

During the appeal, Pilgrim argued that the court was not a disciplinary board for the police service, nor did it “look good” or serve the justice system when serious matters are dismissed without a hearing.

But Yorke-Soo Hon said the police needed to put things in place to deal with officers who do not treat cases seriously.

“The matter was called on 46 occasions over a period of seven years. On 20 occasions, it was set for trial. When we talk about how justice appears, we have to balance the scales on both sides.”

Pilgrim agreed that a culture change was needed on the part of the police and police prosecution, but insisted the magistrate’s decision was not proportionate.

“I am not advocating for a system of perennial delays, but on several occasions the prosecution was ready, yet the matter did not proceed,” he said, adding that the police officer was present a lot more times than he was absent.

The issue of police officers failing to attend court, resulting in cases being thrown out, has been a bugbear for decades. It was recently highlighted when it was revealed that 35 charges for rape and assault had been dismissed in favour of one of the men implicated in the kidnapping and murder of Andrea Bharatt. The police bungled the case by having no file and not being ready.

Last month, a Freeport housewife filed a High Court action and got permission to challenge a decision to end disciplinary action against the police officer in charge of an investigation into her husband’s death in a road accident. The officer had missed court eight times and the charge against the driver who allegedly caused the accident was dismissed.

In its annual report for 2019, the Police Service Commission (PSC) revealed the courts had thrown out 1,843 cases because the police complainant – the officer who lays charges against an accused and is responsible for ensuring all state witnesses attend court – did not attend hearings.

The report was laid in Parliament in October last year, and said 793 of the dismissed cases were for serious crimes.

In February, Police Commissioner Gary Griffith said a flawed and failed judicial system was at fault.

Later that month, Griffith said there had been an 80 per cent overall improvement in police officers attending court, with some divisions recording an improvement of over 90 per cent.