#TurksandCaicos, December 14, 2017 – Providenciales – The Appeals Court is closed to cases now, reopening in March 2018 but before the recess, there were significant decisions handed down. We begin with the Dwight Simmons who was sentenced to 11 years for an attempted armed robbery in November 2016 of the African store in Blue Hills which was thwarted by patrons of the store. Simmons got time reduced and will now serve eight years at Her Majesty’s Prison instead.
Tim Prudhoe, attorney at law, managed to win the appeal he made on behalf of Gennesonne Presendieus, who was convicted in a case where officers said he stripped the Police of his gun while being arrested. Presendieus said he only picked up the gun when it fell from the Police officer and handed it back over to him. The Appeals Court quashed the conviction; Gennesonne of Haiti is now a free man.
Carl Gardiner who had been running in and out of court trying to overturn his conviction at the appellate level is also free. Gardiner had been charged with stealing some $130,000 of Butterfield Gold’s money while employed there. It was said he concocted the robbery story and he was convicted and served some prison time. However, in a last ditch move at the Court of Appeals and represented by attorney Ashwood Forbes, Gardiner won. No re-arrest and no return to HMP; his conviction was quashed.
The entire appeal bundle of Gardiner’s case was missing and without it the COA was unable to give fair consideration of the matter. An acquittal verdict was entered by lawyer Ashwood Forbes on behalf of his client, and he is free to go.
There were disparaging comments directed at the judicial system for this and other matters where evidence was reportedly destroyed or had gone missing. However, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution distanced itself from public criticism. In the matter of murder accused, Cortez Simmons it was explained that ‘a none direction by the trial judge’ where there was potentially a biased juror in the jury panel led to the retrial decision by the Appeals Court and because ‘the court cannot find the judge summing up’ for Gardiner, his conviction was quashed.
In the case of Paul Missick, who this Summer got five years for in 2016 breaking into a hotel room at Ocean Club East in order to rob the couple residing there, two years were chopped from his sentence. Missick with his brother were found guilty of stealing jewelry, IDs, credit cards and cash this past July.
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#AppealscourtcloseduntilSpring
