Man asks CoP to expunge conviction for 3g of weed

A Chaguanas man who was convicted and fined for possession of three grammes of marijuana has engaged the Commissioner of Police to have his criminal record expunged, in keeping with amendments to the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2019, which decriminalised small amounts of the drug.

Dion Horsford on Friday received permission from the Court of Appeal to withdraw his appeal at a sitting for magisterial appeals.

Horsford was arrested in Montrose on January 30, 2015, and was fined $800. He had appealed, but sought permission to withdraw the appeal when it came up for hearing on Friday.

Horsford’s attorney Nicole Marajh told Justices of Appeal Alice Yorke-Soo Hon and Maria Wilson he has applied to have his record expunged. Initially, Marajh asked for the matter to be kept on the magisterial list until the process before the commissioner was completed, but later sought permission to withdraw the appeal.

In granting permission, Yorke-Soo Hon said even if it removed the sentence and entered a lesser one, the court did not have the power to issue an absolute discharge. She said this can be done via the commissioner’s office, in keeping with the law.

She reminded that when going for a pardon, there must be a conviction on record.

“That is the premise of the application (for pardon). They now have a basis on which to act.”

Senior state attorney Nigel Pilgrim said Horsford had a right to have his conviction expunged by the commissioner under the 2019 amendment.

However, he said even if the matter did proceed at appeal, the State would not have resisted, since it was troubled by the way the magistrate dealt with the matter.

“Persons in his position ought to have been reprimanded and discharged. I do not think the magistrate carried out a proper sentencing,” he said.

In May last year, when Horsford's matter came up for hearing at the magisterial appeal hearing, Wilson and Justice of Appeal Mark Mohammed had advised those convicted of possessing small amounts of marijuana to apply to the CoP to have their criminal records expunged.

In giving the court’s opinion, Wilson said then there was a method provided under the new law for those convicted to apply to the commission to have their records wiped clean.

She said after that option is taken, Horsford could then file a notice of abandonment of his appeal. He has since done so and has been told by the commissioner’s office to provide additional information in support of his application.