Lawyer withdraws Charlton appeal

Wed, Jun 10th 2015, 09:48 AM

Jaquan Charlton, the man whose release hours after his conviction by a lay magistrate sparked a police investigation into whether MICAL MP V. Alfred Gray abused his powers, remains free although his appeal was withdrawn yesterday.

Zephaniah Newbold, the administrator for Mayaguana, who also acted as the lay magistrate, convicted Charlton on March 19 of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer and sentenced him to three months' imprisonment. But Charlton was released hours later after Gray called Newbold twice. Newbold told The Nassau Guardian that he had released Charlton "outright" after he got the calls. While Gray admitted making the call, he said he advised Newbold that he could give Charlton bail pending appeal.

Charlton appeared before the Court of Appeal yesterday with his lawyer Christina Galanos to appeal the conviction and sentence. However, she withdrew the appeal after Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Garvin Gaskin pointed out that the court did not have the statutory power to entertain the appeal. Under the Criminal Procedure Code, appeals from administrators are made to the chief magistrate or deputy chief magistrate. Gaskin also pointed out that the offenses are not ones that are heard by the Court of Appeal as they do not attract a sentence of more than a year.

Justice of Appeal Neville Adderley told Charlton that he was free to go after learning that Charlton had not been released under the Bail Act or Criminal Procedure Code. Gray was not only the parliamentary representative for Mayaguana, but he was also Newbold's boss in his capacity as minister of local government. Gray was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing in May after Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson, his Cabinet colleague, announced that no charges would be filed due to the "conflicting nature of the evidence".

The statement said, "Upon a careful and complete review of the file and after consultation with senior prosecutors and other senior legal officials within the Office of the Attorney General, it was determined that in the circumstances of the conflicting nature of the evidence, it is not desirable to institute criminal proceedings against any person before any court in respect of any offense against the law of The Bahamas.

"While it may be tempting to draw conclusions from allegations reported (second hand) in the media, it is important at all times that evidence guides the decision making process.

"This is especially important to preserve fairness and the integrity of all trial proceedings."

In March, Prime Minister Perry Christie told Parliament that Gray had invited him to relieve him of his local government portfolio pending the outcome of a police probe into the matter. Christie has not reinstated Gray as minister of local government weeks after the attorney general's decision. Gray remains minister of agriculture and marine resources.

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