A Nicaraguan crew member of the Sovereign of the Seas, who was cleared of raping a passenger, has won an unlawful detention lawsuit.
Ruel Lockwood was accused of sexually assaulting the woman on the ship while it was docked at Prince George Wharf on March 7, 2007.
Lockwood was remanded to prison until his trial, which began in the Supreme Court on November 12, 2007 and ended in an acquittal on November 19.
Although the trial judge told Lockwood that he was free to go, immigration officers held him at the detention center until November 23, 2007.
Attorney Sophia Thompson, who appeared for the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Immigration, said that Lockwood was detained because the cruise ship agent did not complete his travel arrangements until November 23.
Thompson also submitted that Lockwood was "detained for a reasonable time to enable arrangements to be made for his travel to the United States".
Witnesses for the defendants said Lockwood could not have been removed from the country because he had no passport or ticket. By contrast, Lockwood said the ship's agent had his ticket, but he could not travel without a passport.
In a judgment delivered on April 29, Justice Rhonda Bain said the Immigration Act required anyone arrested by immigration officers to be brought before a magistrate within 48 hours.
Bain said, "The defendants did not comply with the law and therefore the detention of the plaintiff was unlawful."
The judgment continued, "The plaintiff alleges that he was unlawfully detained for four days. The defendants submit that the detention was lawful. Unfortunately the defendants were unable to justify the lawfulness of the detention under the provisions of the Immigration Act."
Bain found that two days was a reasonable time to arrange Lockwood's removal from the country and that he had been held unlawfully for two days.
She said Lockwood was entitled to damages, which would be assessed and awarded him legal costs.
Dorsey McPhee represented Lockwood at his trial and civil suit.

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