The Court of Appeal will decide whether two men who played different roles in the same crime should receive the same sentence.
Justin Turnquest and his cousin, Darez Cartwright, were both convicted on charges of drug possession with intent to supply involving the seizure of 130 pounds of marijuana.
Cartwright, who purchased the marijuana to retail, pleaded guilty at his arraignment on November 28, 2011 and was sentenced to four years in prison.
Turnquest, who was helping Cartwright package the drugs when officers of the Drug Enforcement Unit descended on Cartwright's premises at No. 6 Geranium Gardens in November 2011, was convicted after a trial on February 22, 2013.
He, too, was sentenced to four years in prison, the mandatory minimum penalty for the offense since the reintroduction of mandatory minimum sentencing.
However, Magistrate Carolita Bethell said if she had the discretion to impose an appropriate sentence she would have sentenced him to the year that he spent in prison before he was released on bail.
Bethell said, "Under the law as it now stands, I have to sentence you to four years imprisonment. Had I my discretion, with no previous convictions, you are young and the part you played in this was just to bag it up. Unfortunately, I don't have my discretion."
Turnquest's lawyer Christina Galanos appeared before Senior Justice Jon Isaacs yesterday to challenge the constitutionality of the sentence.
Isaacs did not grant an application by prosecutor Jillian Williams to strike out the application as an abuse of process because he also has a pending application before the Court of Appeal. She noted that both courts can hear constitutional applications.
Galanos explained that the applications were made to conform with the filing deadlines in the appellate court.
Isaacs released Cartwright on $9,000 bail pending a decision on the constitutional motion. As a condition of bail, Cartwright must report to the Wulff Road Police Station on Mondays before 6 p.m.
"He will be released until the Court of Appeal determines otherwise," said Isaacs.

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