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VOLUME:115 No.102, APRIL 19TH, 2018

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CLASSIFIED TRADER: CARS, CARS, CARS & MORE CARS

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L SOUR CE

Pointe: We don’t need locals - yet

CCA: Bahamians ‘will be used’ as headcount at site remains unclear

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net INVESTIGATORS from the Department of Labour have discovered a disproportionate number of foreign labourers to Bahamian workers at The Pointe development in downtown Nassau, The Tribune was told yesterday.

However, according to well-placed sources, The Pointe’s developers - China Construction America, have told labour officials 100 Chinese nationals remained in the country following the completion of The Pointe’s parking garage for specialised purposes.

The workers were tasked

with laying an apparent intricate steel foundation for the next phase of the $200m development.

Developers explained to the government, The Tribune was told, a full complement of Bahamian workers are not needed at this time, but would be called upon once this portion of construction is finished. It is unclear whether this represents a breach of the workforce clause in the heads of agreement between CCA and the government, as the developer has made a case why there are more foreign workers on the project when compared to local builders.

SEE PAGE THREE

GREATER POWERS TO PROTECT WITNESSES

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

THE government passed the Criminal Evidence Witness Anonymity Amendment Bill yesterday to allow for witness identities in criminal proceedings to be shielded and only revealed in screening by a magistrate, magistrate

COVER UP: NOW YOU SEE THEM, NOW YOU DON’T

panel or judge in a bid to clamp down on acts of witness tampering.

The existing law allows witnesses to be exposed as any member of the court has the right to screen an anonymous witness.

According to National Security Minister Marvin Dames, as it stands the law SEE PAGE FIVE

A YELLOW covering is raised, preventing people from looking into a major part of the construction site at the Pointe.

Photo: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff

JUDGE BAILS PRISONER BLACKLIST’S OVER - BUT HELD WITHOUT CHARGE NOW WE MUST DELIVER

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

AFTER nearly four years in prison without charge, a 42-year-old schizophrenic man saw his habeas corpus application dismissed after

he was granted a conditional release on $15,000 bail yesterday.

Alfairs Agregory Higgs will have to wear an ankle monitoring bracelet and undergo a SEE PAGE NINE

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas was yesterday urged to see its European Union pledges through, as Brian Moree QC argued that corporate

taxation is “not inevitable”.

Mr Moree told Tribune Business that The Bahamas’ seemingly imminent removal from the EU “blacklist” was just the “first step” in a long process.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

‘MISS FLORIDA’ DENIES DRUG DEN ROLE

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net A SENIOR police officer yesterday testified how the boyfriend of internet sensation Handerea “Miss Florida” Rolle tried to flush a quantity of marijuana down a toilet the day police raided a home they were in two months ago.

Assistant Superintendent Zhivargo Earns told Deputy Chief Magistrate

ITALIAN

HANDEREA ROLLE Subusola Swain he caught Ilano Noel trying to flush a bowl of weed on February

13, moments after he and two other officers broke down the door to a home on Smith’s Lane.

ASP Earns said after catching and subduing Noel, who has since been sentenced in connection with the discovery, Rolle and the owner of the residence, Kenneth Moncur, were found hiding in two separate rooms in the home.

SEE PAGE TEN

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SEE PAGE EIGHT

PAGE 2, Thursday, April 19, 2018

STUDENTS UP FOR THE CUP ST Andrew’s School hosted the World Scholar’s Cup on Monday and Tuesday.

PHOTOS: Shawn Hanna/ Tribune Staff

THE TRIBUNE

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, April 19, 2018, PAGE 3

A YELLOW covering over the construction site at The Pointe yesterday.

Photo: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff

POINTE: WE DON’T NEED LOCALS - YET from page one

The Heads of Agreement between CCA and the government states 70 percent of the workers are supposed to be Bahamian and 30 percent should be foreign.

Labour Minister Dion Foulkes would not confirm these developments, but he said a report of the findings was complete and expected to be presented to Cabinet next week. While not passing culpability onto the developers, he said once this is done, CCA would be given a chance to respond to the report in an effort to be fair to all parties involved.

This comes as developers have recently erected additional material to obstruct the view of ongoing work on the compound. Bahamian Contractors Association President Leonard Sands accused CCA of using this as a means to “hide something” from Bahamians. He

said the BCA was also considering a demonstration at The Pointe.

Director of Labour Robert Farquharson was defensive yesterday when he was contacted with questions about the project. He said there had been no “factual basis” for the concerns raised about The Pointe. He would not clarify this assertion when he asked to do so

by The Tribune. He would only repeat that investigators were in the process of completing the report.

Mr Farquharson would not answer questions which centred on what process would ensue if CCA was found to be in breach of the heads of agreement, saying this was not in his portfolio.

The government’s apprehension to give answers on this situation continues to anger the BCA, Mr Sands said.

“The Bahamian Contractors Association is questioning how it was allowed to get to this point

in the first instance because that is a dereliction of duty,” Mr Sands told this newspaper yesterday. “If you have a duty to ensure that someone lives up to their contractual agreement it is your job to put in place a procedure for checking to ensure that the Heads of Agreement guidelines are met and held.

“It should not be an association or private citizen or non-governmental agency to go and find that out for you.

“Let’s say they are in violation, what do they get?

Do they get a change to hire some more persons so the ratio is what it should be?

How is that process going to roll out? Do they have a PSA that says right now we have a certain number of Chinese and we need hundreds more Bahamians?

“That needs to happen immediately or else the project needs to cease until they become compliant. We need to know how that is

going to work.”

On Sunday, Mr Sands demanded officials do a physical count at The Pointe of workers to determine whether the heads of agreement is being adhered to.

He said local contractors were angered to have been neglected in the construction phase of the project.

Earlier this month, Tribune photographers monitored who went on to the site and with the exception of three or four Bahamians and a guard at the gates of the development, everyone else appeared to be Chinese.

Previously, this newspaper observed workers on the site in both January and February and it was a similar story. Dozens of Chinese builders walked on to the site every day from a building, which lodges the workers opposite the development, and virtually no Bahamians were anywhere to be seen.

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THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, April 19, 2018, PAGE 5

Greater powers to protect witnesses from page one now presents a loophole, which has already resulted in a criminal appeal to the Court of Appeal by convicted persons claiming their right to confront witnesses was violated as the trial included anonymous testimony. He said it also created the issue of reprisals, a serious threat to upright citizens and by extension the pursuit of justice. However, this amendment does nothing to correct future occurrences of this same issue.

Meanwhile, Official Opposition Leader Philip “Brave” Davis said rather than “tinkering” with existing law, the government should strengthen the witness protection programme.

As he made a case for the bill to be passed, Mr Dames said from 2015 to date, the

OPPOSITION leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis urged strengthening the witness protection programme. anonymity order has been applied in approximately 80 criminal cases according to police statistics. Out of this number, more than half of the cases, showed evidence of witness tampering.

Witness tampering, he said, has been compounded by gun

violence and gang culture in the country, contributing to the lion’s share of all homicides committed from 2015-2017. During this period, there were 378 murders recorded and the average age range of the victims was 18 to 35.

He explained that in 2015, an estimated 79 percent of the murders were committed by firearms; in 2016 an estimated 84 percent and in 2017 an estimated 88 percent, adding that already for this year an estimated 79 percent of murders were by guns.

“We are in this place to send a message to all who are hell bent on causing destruction and living a life of crime and violence,” Mr Dames said. “We are here to send a message that this government will not tolerate intimidation of witnesses, intimidation of victims (or) intimidation of anyone.

“And so all of those who are out there living a life of crime (and feel) that they can do what they please, they now ought to listen and listen carefully that we are not here to infringe on their rights, but what we are here to do is protect the rights of all.

“This amendment is not an infringement on the civil liberties of others in no way, but about the practical and swift ways to combat serious crimes in our country and to protect those who are brave to step forward and to hold those who are responsible to account.”

Financial Services and Immigration Minister Brent Symonette said in his view, this bill will serve in the fight against crime as it brings an element of fairness to deceased victims and their families.

He said: “When we talk about justice and the

FEES TO RISE - INCLUDING MORGUE FEES

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

A VARIETY of Public Hospitals Authority fees will be likely raised in the new fiscal year, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said yesterday.

This includes the storage fee when remains at the morgue are not collected on time.

Late last year, funeral directors protested the proposed hike, prompting Dr Sands to halt and review the plan along with some 400plus proposed fee changes.

Yesterday, Dr Sands said: “I expect those fees I’m minded to approve will go into effect in the new fiscal year. In the meantime there is no real penalty to store bodies at PMH.” The new fiscal year begins July 1.

It’s not clear by how much the fees will be increased, but the change will be among various fee changes that happen.

“What we will do in terms of final decision is base the decision to change fees on the outcome of the budgetary allocation we receive,” Dr Sands said. “If we need a certain amount of money to run either the Public Hospitals Authority or the Ministry of Health and we get X amount of dollars from the Consolidated Fund, then the balance will have to come from somewhere. The PHA Act allows the PHA to retain earnings from various fees; the fees were gazetted many years ago but have not been collected though they are required to be collected by law.

We will make a decision whether to collect only those that ought to be collected or if the shortfall is still too much we have

YOUR

to increase them to levels recommended. After a preliminary discussion, I am minded to approve the changes in the fees.”

Dr Sands also said the country needs a new morgue.

“The need for a new lab that functions more consistently with the needs and service demands of the country are clear,” he said.

“There is a significant case load of medical examiner or coroner type cases which are different from clinical autopsies and body storage needs. The spectacle of grieving families outside the blood bank and outside that area around the morgue is akin to the spectacle you see on Bank Lane (where the courts are).

“Apart from that spectacle, the viewing facilities are simply antiquated and leave much to be desired. One thing we’ve tried to do as a matter of priority is identify a suitable place for a facility to house a new pathology lab with expanded medical or coroner type facilities and we propose to invite forensics from the police to have some space as well.

The original concept is to have a national blood bank there as well. That plan, one of the early considerations, suffered a painful death when the fiscal reality of the major priority allocations to other projects became clear and we’ve had to shelve that idea until we can find the financial headroom to make it happen.”

The number of bodies at the morgue has challenged the facility’s storage capacity, The Tribune understands.

A senior source in the health industry has told The Tribune there are 74 bodies in the long-term storage area of the morgue because of delays in court trials.

CHOICE FOR THE FAMILY WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/JOYFM1019

MINISTER of Health Dr Duane Sands.

balance of fairness, the guy who is dead deserves fairness.

“If I am going to take ‘John Doe’ and move him to Ragged Island with 35 to 40 people and this stranger appears and says he is here for witness protection Nassau will know before the plane lands. The other side of the coin, we say let’s send him to the big USA and the problem is that most of those fellas got criminal records themselves and the United States won’t take them. So we can’t take them over that way and lose them in Wyoming or New York City because they themselves may have had scrimmages with the law.

“So this is the balance we are trying to make.”

He also spoke about immigration matters.

“I rise to speak on this issue just to send out this warning.

“We need to try and put some fear in those people involved in smuggling of illegal immigrants,” the St Anne’s MP said.

“One was caught the other day, taken before the court and was charged and found guilty and fined.

He was here on a work permit. That permit is up for renewal and will shortly be on my desk. In case he hasn’t heard yet, the clear message will be – refused, because we cannot allow human traffickers to break the law in our country and come back and get another work permit. Not on my watch. Go home now because when we prosecute you, that’s where you’re going.”

The same applies to foreigners married to Bahamians. He said these people cannot break the immigration laws and then seek the protection of the state.

PAGE 6, Thursday, April 19, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

Chipman wants probe of fake news stories online

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

CENTREVILLE MP Reece Chipman moved a motion in the House of Assembly yesterday to establish separate select committees to investigate fake news and whether the country is maximising its natural resources.

He called these “motions of sovereignty”.

Last year, Mr Chipman was a victim of social media rumours that some characterised as fake news.

His statements in the House yesterday came weeks after he was fired by Prime Minister Dr Hubert

Minnis as chairman of the Antiquities Monuments & Museum Corporation (AMMC).

He said: “At this stage in The Bahamas I believe it is important for us as Bahamians and for our children, those that are unborn, to identify with the spirit of sovereignty. The first motion would be for a select committee to investigate deliberate online falsehoods, nowadays termed fake news which has an indirect way of impacting and directing our culture.

The committee will take submissions from the public and hold public hearings to gather feedback before

reporting to the Parliament.

“There is a high risk of fake news that interferes even with our main economic engine and industry such as tourism and financial services. Disseminating these falsehoods, particularly if its done covertly, attacks the very heart of democracy by preventing constructive discourse.

“The second motion I intend to move will deal with our natural resources.

I believe we must be deliberate with our intent to protect the natural beauty and maximise the natural resources gifted to us by our almighty God. We must consider a select committee to consider how we can better protect and utilise our natural resources, aragonite, oil, sun, wind, sand and sea for the maximum benefit of our people.

“The select committee should investigate, examine and review existing royalties and valuations received and being received for our natural resources such as aragonite, sand and our seabeds. These are already line items in our revenue budget so there is a starting point.

If lives are to be enriched, if there are to be better schools, affordable healthcare and reduced criminal activity it should be done for the benefit, not for the capital interest of a few, but for the sovereign interest of the many.”

Parliament must unanimously support the establishment of a select committee, according to law.

MEMBER of Parliament Reece Chipman.

Photo: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff

BTC TAKES ON TITLE SPONSOR ROLE AS CARNIVAL GETS READY FOR NEW ERA

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Carnival Experience was officially launched yesterday, leading up to the event that will be held May 4-6 with BTC as a title sponsor.

The launch came at a press conference held yesterday at BTC’s headquarters on JFK Drive.

Present were representatives from the Polantra Media Group – Trevor Davis, Kenny Mackey, and Sebas Bastian – and Marcian Cash, BTC vice-president of marketing and sales.

The organisers said the level of investment for this year’s carnival is approximately $897,000 to pull off the three-day event.

In addition to BTC, another major sponsor is Kalik.

Mr Mackey confirmed yesterday that Polantra’s intention is to manage the Bahamas Carnival brand moving forward.

When asked if this could go as far as copyrighting the event so that “Bahamas Carnival” can only be used under Polantra, Mr Mackey said “absolutely.”

“That’s absolutely the goal. The goal is in consultation with the government to consistently move the organisation and the brand forward.”

Mr Mackey added that the word “Junkanoo” was removed to keep the indigenous event and the carnival festivities separate.

The organisers also addressed complaints that the event has not received much promotion thus far.

Mr Bastian, CEO of Island Luck, said: “The government told us very late that they would not be supporting the Junkanoo Carnival.

“So this group of promoters and organisers got together, (and) saw it necessary to protect the investment that was already made by the country over the last three years, upwards of $21m.

“They came together and pooled their resources to continue the carnival.

“The next year, knowing well in advance what our responsibilities... and duties

DJ KHALED, who will be one of the big names at the carnival. are, we will plan to market the carnival much earlier than we’ve done in previous years.”

Mr Bastian also promised that the dates and headliners for the 2019 festival will be announced this year.

When asked how the event’s success will be measured, Mr Bastian said through attendance and profitability, while admitting that the organisers do not expect to make a profit this year.

“We don’t anticipate (it) to be profitable this year because this year we’re not doing it for money,” Mr Bastian said.

“We’re basically doing it as responsible corporate citizens that saw the need to fill the void that was left and we see this as a staple event for the country. And we’ll think profit in the years to come.”

He added: “I don’t think the government should be in the business of having parties anyway. I think they’ve done a lot of the heavy lifting already, and it’s up to the private sector to take it from here.”

The organisers highlighted the importance of carnival as both an event enjoyed by locals and also a tourism and economic tool.

Mr Bastian said:

“Travelling in my journeys I’ve seen what carnival has done to many destinations and the amount of visitors that come to those destinations for the purpose of carnival.

“And we want to achieve that here in the Bahamas with corporate sponsors like Kalik and BTC and Polantra and all of the sponsors that also are involved we will achieve that.”

The Bahamas Carnival Experience will take place between May 4-6.

Performers will include a mix of local and international artists, including Dmac, Dyson Knight, Wendi, Rick Carey, Sketch, Machel Montano, Destra Garcia, Mr Vegas, Ricardo Dru, Blaxx, and Skinny Fabulous.

Mr Mackey added: “In the spirit of bringing big name international artists, DJ Khaled will not only be hosting, but he will be here for the week to ensure international coverage is brought to this event.”

In terms of promotions, the first 4,000 customers to purchase tickets for Saturday night’s event will receive a free $5 top up from BTC. Mr Cash added that the grand prize will be lunch for two with DJ Khaled.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, April 19, 2018, PAGE 7

Woman killed in crash as she loses control of her car

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net A TRAFFIC accident in Eleuthera on Tuesday evenging has left an adult woman dead.

According to police, the incident occurred shortly before 6pm when the victim lost control of her vehicle.

“A woman was driving a silver Chevrolet Cobalt car on Queen’s Highway, south of the settlement of Upper Bouge, when she lost control of the vehicle

and crashed into bushes before overturning,” police reported.

The victim was the sole occupant of the car. Paramedics were called to the scene and attempted to revive her, but they unfortunately were unsuccessful.

Chief Superintendent Stephen Adderley, officerin-charge of the Eleuthera Division, confirmed the victim to be Gazel Petty, 29.

According to reports, she was also known as “Cherry”.

This is the 23rd traffic

fatality for the year, according to The Tribune’s records.

The country’s previous traffic fatality was a visiting pastor from the United States, Bishop Darryl Coleman.

The pastor, a backseat driver, was described as a “hero” after he grabbed the car’s steering wheel and tried to avoid tragedy when the car’s driver experienced a “seizure,” according to Bishop Larick Kemp, a long-time friend.

On Monday, Transport

Minister Frankie Campbell spoke about the number of traffic fatalities for the year, a figure he has previously called “frightening”.

“We have 22 fatalities and some 26 homicides,” he said Monday. “Fatalities are keeping pace with homicides, we’ve got to do something about this.”

Mr Campbell noted the issue of road safety was particularly poignant for him as he was hit by a car in his youth while crossing the street carelessly.

Last month, the Ministry

of Transport and Local Government launched a junior road safety programme for fourth and fifth graders from all public primary schools in New Providence.

On Monday, a pair of students from 12 schools across New Providence were inducted as junior road safety officers.

Mr Campbell said the initiative focuses on children because they are “influential” persons in the household.

“They’re the ones who

determine where we shop, and what we buy, so I believe they too can influence parents as to their behaviour on the street,” he said.

“They have enthusiastically accepted the challenge and I am optimistic that their participation in this whole process will make a difference.”

He added: “I want to ensure, to the extent that we all can, that what happened to me as a youngster don’t happen to our dear loved ones.”s

MAN INJURED IN DRIVE-BY SHOOTING

LABOUR Minister Dion Foulkes at the Labour on the Blocks event.

HUNDREDS TURN OUT AT JOB FAIR HUNDREDS of job seekers turned out in large numbers for the Ministry of Labour and the Department of Labour’s sixth “Labour on the Blocks” job fair at the Doris Johnson High School on Prince Charles Drive on Saturday.

Minister of Labour Dion Foulkes said: “It went exceptionally well. Over 500 people have been interviewed and we are hopeful that a lot of them will be employed from this job fair.”

Mr Foulkes announced the job fair will most likely be the last one to be held until later this year. He said the next job fair will be held around the Christmas season, as this is usually a time when employers take on new hires.

Mr Foulkes was accompanied by his senior team of officers led by Permanent Secretary (acting) Cecilia Strachan; Director of Labour Robert Farquharson; Senior Undersecretary William Pratt and First Secretary Ricardo Deveaux.

Mr Farquharson said officials were pleased to have members of the blind community register at the job fair for the first time.

Four members of the blind community were registered at the job fair.

Afterwards they were divided in groups of twos and accompanied by a labour officer who escorted them to all of the companies participating in the job fair.

Antoine Munroe who is blind said: “I would like to say congratulations to the government for such a venture…and for me as a person with a disability, I

think it’s a step in the right direction, noticing the fact that the government has passed legislation in the bill called the Persons with Disabilities Equal Opportunities Act 2014 which gave us the right to so many things that we have been discriminated against. So I think today is a special day.

It makes us feel as if we are a part of what’s going on.”

A GRAND Bahama man was seriously injured following a drive-by shooting on the Mall Drive in Freeport this week.

Police are searching for the occupants of a silver Mazda that reportedly fired on passengers in another vehicle around midnight on Tuesday, hitting the victim in the upper body.

According to police, shortly after 11pm two male occupants in a grey Chevrolet Cavalier were reportedly driving on the Mall Drive in the area of RND Plaza when a silver Mazda allegedly drove up next to them and began shooting.

ASP Terecita Pinder reported the male driver in the Cavalier sustained injuries to the upper body, but the passenger was not injured.

The male passenger drove the injured victim to the Rand Memorial Hospital where is listed in serious condition.

Police are appealing to anyone with information that can assist them with their investigations to call the Central Detective Unit at 350-3107 through 12; 919, 911, or the nearest police station.

Meanwhile, police in Bimini discovered a quantity of suspected marijuana in bushes in Alice Town on Tuesday.

ASP Pinder said shortly before 9pm officers acting on information went to an

area on Queen’s Highway where they found in bushes a plastic bag containing three pounds, 11oz, of suspected marijuana.

The drugs have an estimated street value of $3,200.

No arrest was made, and police are actively investigating the matter.

Drug Enforcement Unit officers on Grand Bahama recovered a backpack with two pounds of suspected marijuana in the Sergeant Major Road area in Lucaya on Monday. Sometime around 10pm, DEU officers were in the area and observed four men who ran on seeing the officers. One of the suspects was seen discarding a backpack as he escaped in the bushes.

Officers searched the area and found the backpack which contained four plastic bags of suspected marijuana.

They also searched for the suspects, but they escaped on foot.

ASP Pinder reported that the drugs have an estimated street value of $2,000.

In a second incident, shortly before 11pm on Monday DEU officers acting on information, while at Cora’s Place on Sergeant Major Road, discovered a brown paper bag with twenty .40 rounds of Smith and Wesson ammunition. No one was arrested in connection with the matter.

Police are continuing their investigations into these matters.

PAGE 8, Thursday, April 19, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

The smallest things have a way of changing the world I

T is amazing how the smallest moment can impact a life, the briefest comment influence a decision, the momentary glance disrupt what went before it.

A plane flying smoothly through the air bursts open and a body is partially sucked out as happened Tuesday on a Southwest flight from LaGuardia to Dallas.

Where there was once a whole plane was now a plane with a hole.

It happened in a split second because incidents happen in seconds. That’s what they do.

For all the build-up that precedes it, the actual incident is an act that happens so fast you can hardly catch your breath

‘You can break down your life into the smallest parts and I sometimes wonder if we should not try to pay more attention to the parts.’ and it’s done.

A mosquito bites and a child develops malaria.

A sprinter crosses the finish line first, beating his own personal best and winning the gold. A pastor says, “You may kiss the bride”. The doctor says,

“One more push” and you hear the cry of the tiny human announcing her way into the world, a sound you think you will always remember (but you don’t). Everything

else is prelude.

In the end, you can break down your life into the smallest parts and I sometimes wonder if we should not try to pay more attention to the parts.

Instead, we think in chunks and say idly, “Where did the time go?” as if time went on a journey, like it just got up one day and left the house, boarded a plane, bus or boat and ran away.

Where DID it go?

At least when someone leaves the house we can pretty well trace their steps and count on them returning. But it’s not that way with time.

Once it is gone, it vanishes and we never know the answer to the question, where did it go?

We shake our heads and wonder “how can it be almost Christmas already or hurricane season again? The year just flew by”.

Try picturing the year sprouting wings and travelling by air.

If time earned frequent flyer miles, we’d be talking in the kajillions and time could fly non-stop forever.

The reason time flies is because we are not very good at keeping track of what happens at a given instant.

If we were, we would be obsessed with what we are doing at all times instead of making the most of time. We are caught in a no-win situation when it comes to marking time.

If we stop to do it, we stop doing what makes it worth keeping track of.

So we take the easy way out. We do it by calendar instead of by the decisions we make. We mark time with birthdays, anniversaries and special occasions.

Lord, help them if our spouses forget one or our children make other plans for Mother’s Day. A hex will surely be upon them all the next week.

What got me thinking about how we mark occasions instead of the small moments that can lead to a decision that ends up changing the world is a book called The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey.

The book should be in every classroom by the time a student reaches high school not because Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States from 1901 to 1909 but because as a sickly child who could not run and play like many of his friends, he developed a fascination with nature.

He stuffed his pockets with mice, spiders, snakes, any range of small animals and insects he could later study.

That fascination led to his becoming one of the greatest naturalists of all times and under his watch,

‘The second is coming back to where we started, how the smallest moment can impact a life.’

the greatest boon to what would become America’s famed National Park Service was created (the park service was not officially launched until 1916).

The Petrified Forest, the Grand Canyon, were among the monuments.

There were parks in the Badlands of North Dakota and throughout the Northwest. The once sickly boy created five national parks.

The American landscape looks different because of him. American vacations are different because of him. Memories and experiences are possible because of him.

He set aside hundreds of thousands of acres of open space.

He created 18 national monuments, four national game refuges and 51 bird sanctuaries. He wrote reams. He never gave up his passion for adventure and the treasures that he left because of that pas-

‘It would not be such a bad thing to try to remember the moment we discovered and defined ourselves.

And maybe that would bring on an unexpected smile.’ sion have made it possible for millions every year to see animals in their natural habitat or enjoy a quiet moment by a pond.

One man’s passion led to a world of wonders at the Grand Canyon alone where visitors gaze, stay for days, zipline or walk the sky bridge 4000 feet above the 270 million year-old canyon floor below.

If that had not been preserved more than a century ago, what would be the chances of its being preserved today for the six million visitors who saw it last year?

This was not meant to be about the Grand Canyon where I have never been but am somehow comforted by the fact of its existence and the knowledge that man cannot mess with what nature created thanks to a single man who was

once a boy who couldn’t play like others. A boy we might have dismissed as weird or a nerd.

What kind of 12-yearold comes back from a summer vacation and donates mice, a bat, a turtle, four birds’ eggs and the skull of a red squirrel to the Museum of Natural History?

What this little piece of writing was meant to be about was two lessons we can all take from the somewhat unhappy story of a troubled Teddy Roosevelt.

The first is the obvious – every one of us, whether we are like those around us or not, has something that makes us tick and when we are true to our inner passion, we can make a difference.

It may not be the difference a Teddy Roosevelt made. But it could ease the pain of hunger or make life a little easier for someone who was sleeping on the sidewalk.

We don’t need to be like others. We can be who we are so long as the who we are will leave the world a better place and we can accept that our contribution is more important than our popularity.

The second is coming back to where we started, how the smallest moment can impact a life.

Teddy Roosevelt remembers the one that changed his.

He was a kid walking along Broadway in New York City on his way to buying strawberries at the market when he passed a dead seal that had been plucked from New York harbour and placed on a plank.

It was the largest dead animal he had ever seen.

He got a cloth measuring tape and wrote down the measurements. “That was the day I became a naturalist,” he said.

As an old man, Roosevelt still recalled the moment his destiny was forged. We may not be so clear, but then again we might surprise ourselves.

We will probably do what we always do, hope someone remembers Mother’s Day or our birthday, but it would not be such a bad thing to try to remember the moment we discovered and defined ourselves. And maybe that would bring on an unexpected smile.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, April 19, 2018, PAGE 9

Judge bails prisoner held without charge from page one

psychological evaluation at Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre once he pays bail with two sureties.

He appeared before Supreme Court Justice Andrew Forbes, who determined there was no legal basis for the continuation of Mr Higgs’ habeas application, which contests the lawfulness of his detention, once bail had been granted as he would no longer be in detention.

Justice Forbes awarded legal costs to Mr Higgs, whom he suggested could now file for constitutional action against the government for unlawful arrest and false imprisonment.

Up to press time, Mr Higgs was still in custody with legal counsel reserving comment pending a full review of the court session.

Mr Higgs was born to Turks Islander Linda Ellen Higgs and a Bahamian man on December 2, 1975.

His family claims he has been denied his medication since he was arrested by police for disorderly behaviour in 2015 and has been imprisoned ever since without being charged.

He further claims he had previously applied for Bahamian citizenship and was approved.

Mr Higgs’ lawyers filed a writ of habeas corpus on his behalf last month, alleging his constitutional rights are being violated every day he is detained.

In his supporting affidavit, Mr Higgs claims he has been jailed since 2014; however, it has not yet been established as fact the exact period of his detention.

A5M AIN

, PAGE 5

Monday, March 19, 2018

o b m i l n i t f e L

Patrick Wright stated the order was “duly served on/ read” to Mr Higgs on January 1, 2015.

An attached copy of the order, bearing the January date, states Mr Higgs arrived in the country “sometime in 2013” and from page one did not have citizenship : nued conti r His fathe g “It’s sad, and he’s gettin or permanent residence. him worse. I haven’t seen time about a year. The last me It furthered noted the told he I was there pee. he’s drinking his own Immigration Board had been He has never ever get to court, how did they you determined that his preshim, for ittal a comm nt of have to have a warra only ence in the country would committal and you can .” get that from the court Mr claim be “undesirable and not Relatives ated frustr grew Higgs tconducive to the public after having been repea g edly turned away durin docgood.” attempts to present his on good make and ts umen while Mr Edgecombe outlined a letter he received his that out of the country had citizenship application Mr Higgs’ incarceration hisbeen approved.

The Tribune was contory in the United States ace tacted by his sister Cand the Mills, 33, following - he served some nine years of newspaper’s coverage the long-term detainees at nfor charges of aggravated Dete Road l Carmichae tion Center. in sodomy, simple battery, “Technically he’s not Mills Fox Hill prison,” Ms just false imprisonment, and he’s y nicall “tech said, n. being held by Immigratio at the aggravated sexual battery.

When I asked before can’t prison they said they than Mr Higgs’ was released tell me nothing other graImmi by held he’s being to from a Georgia prison on tion. Why does he have be held in there?

March 12, 2013 and sub“In there is awful, even tell can you de outsi the on go sequently returned to the it’s awful, even when you k for visits the heat will knoc you out.”

Bahamas. n She continued: “Eve him if they had to house However, responding they te minu a in there for him. never came back for affidavits do not establish a about They have forgotten g him. When you callin s clear timeline of his detenaround nobody know never nothing, nobody tion in the Bahamas, when it knows nothing when . for more than three years comes to him.” ation, charge or court date he comes out on he was arrested or the time medic when ut “But witho me prison in get Mr Higgs was born held se ain’t no saint, don’twhat he I don’t have no eyes or ears Eight ALFAIRS AGREGORY HIGGS, who has been December 2, 1975, in brother regularly becau feel for he know if his a stufamily claims he spent Mr Higgs’ father con- of her job, which doesn’t wrong. I years in on him, I don’t but could Mile Rock, and was 11 ved appro serve the there he been use went had did he can High ming s are it’s (Mr Higgs) ’t know how swearing- tinued: “So dent at SC Bootle allow for time-consu er not take part in the he needed identifition prison but as thing at the Carmichael Road phone or doesn School (formerly Coop er in ceremony because he was because they kept turning and hectic prison visita us. I’m not right. a but he doesn’t call United cation and Town High). His moth d on days.

“If he has committed riend) had to tand incarcerated in the him around so he carrie Centre.

However, she admi was a Turks Islander d take him sorry he (boyfknow how Detention shoul lock my they to s. e State crime decid . to they she’s and so has go to jail his father is Bahamian not ted part of the reason last His father said: “He had him up. before court but that brother doing, for the Mr Edgecombe cond away is because it Although he did s on him put him in the staye s her heart to see her never happened.”

I’ve been knowHiggs all his document y hs “The mont 18 up, pted d attem have a passport, Mr doing The Tribune centre, and we break and when he got locke ess of ing how Greg been firmed Mr Higgs’ was being had a travel document d now they can’t seem to find detention he needed his brother in such a helpl to contact the Director traveling told them And when he state and feeling powerless Immigration Clarence Rus- because of him.”father said was living in the Unite n. con- it. He had his old Mr Higgs’ n retur States when he was 12, document issued by gov- medicatio a few months to help him. not housed in Block F Cell 17, did h he but Britis and sell was there he met with the rape on April “I couldn’t go there victed of of his birth the HOW The Tribune previously reported case of Alfairs Agregory Higgs. up the could on ernment. All he break that. Why not our calls. stabbed here in Consul to see if they which 2004 was jailed and went s certificate, schools records, they say he said was an area his pull some see him like a ward? If he He got given e, ance centr Higg assist tion Mr r , deten years rende to to serve 11 So put him on I only know because s and the letter they wrote wires out of the wall. he may have jail and mother was from Turk designated for persons with ned to Abaco for a few for citizenship. He had they sent him to the prison. come out now to Sandilands my kid’s dad is in jail and he back to him s, but was informed Caico ht ing $500 hs and then straig for Lastretur week Friday, he was would be adjudicated at anyth go mont if Department of Correcto him I know on n, e le get catio not e he a chequ come let peop s) that they would him But he’s on medis help.”

Grand Bahama wher and then maybe he can mental disorders. because someone paid happen to Greg (Mr Higg need said. involved. well told them he hearing. worked as a barbe not brought to r.court for the yesterday’s t out on this road,” she tional know. e knowing full Services awaiting chequ to let him he by Ms Mills said she hasn’ According to relatives, it because Ms Mills continued: “He cash her n’t could visit he There are six other to him able notifying been received a letter ID. scheduled hearing of his The substantive date for no had deportation. ation he his citizenship applic inmates also receiving their application, but the matter the hearing of the habeas It referred to a “depor- required medical attention was adjourned to allow his corpus matter was April tation/detention” order and monitoring, he said. legal counsel an opportu- 26. reportedly issued in Decemis a role for the “This FNM A minute paper from of Assembly by the e or for the nity to review and respond Theadvogovernment’s Mitchell also called Mr affiaccusations Chief Justic strate.

The on the falseand Magi by ral asprison from 2015, cates over long-stand of Chief tersigned an explanationber minis for a medical officer Dr st the again inable.” susta made practices. er- Attorney Gene adminisis on his role in to issues govby Rashied page one by the Last interf Minn e Minis- ingsworn t from raised Dr abou t “We week, Primdavit, nmen strate goverImmigration ter for the Mr Mitchell said: former Minisg minis said rising the magi Johnson, stated Mr would ter Dr Hubert Minnis ence in the judiciary durinin tration of justice Hasting say that the gov- authoto Inagua. to nue conti tated ernment’s affidavit.

Edgecombe, a cutelawyer in the to fly government facili the time the PLP was ularlyFred ally bet eh one who partic “If you follow the logic the hearings and deporta- ernment must prose is ter onnorm behalf “This r up certainly the prime to the Higgs had a psychiatric hisr, Mitchell nt practice, fair decision on this matte General’s , not just because powe ter as a matter of law negotiates to talks about 230 Attorney of this prese rtant the for impo At that hearing, legal the a or Inagu in level e cil iary tion minis t- head of the judic matters by taking bad legal advic were to the Privy Coun with to of the general quest of ions thehasgovernor general. no legal role in direc tory “since the age of 13 or illegal migrants who nistrative amend the law forth a politically FNM interference in the aboutwas counselfrom sought to conhave Mr strates,” said Mr adming with the court.” red in area. Office, stated Mr Higgs one given the ing magi deali nected lawyer - some this captu said it will become stop this.” there judiciary but the Hous ell.

He said However, in his affida- 14.”

Mitch for ell e love Mitch no Mr who has send uptions in iceato British interrwas spract magi Higgs released on bail, but national and ard ng a stand for landi st no need country - a touri a ation to islands was In a minute paper dated vit, Prison Superintendent at the airport with no a delegmigrants are cap- trate to be sent to Inagu e g island Justice here Forbes said bail being held the Bahamas wher , sayin last weekat visa will need to be found the where such hearings ng THE TRIBUNE

E K TA IS M A T R U O C G IN LY F : L L E MITCH

March 19, Dr Johnson maintained Mr Higgs was receiving his regular psychiatric medication and was being referred for psychiatric review that week.

In another minute paper dated July 20, 2016, Dr Johnson stated Mr Higgs was seen on May 30, 2016 for a complaint that he was being beaten by other inmates.

Dr Johnson said Mr Higgs was diagnosed with soft tissue injuries, and noted he was a known schizophrenic for more than ten years.

Mr Edgecombe concluded: “That in the circumstances, should the honourable court be minded to release the subject it might be prudent to take into account his criminal history and that a full mental evaluation be conducted to assess his suitability for release into the general society.”

Yesterday, Justice Forbes said his determination of Mr Higgs’ bail application rested on three points of contention: on what premise could he be granted bail if there was no charge; whether Mr Higgs was a Bahamian; and whether the granting of bail would remove legal basis of his habeas corpus application.

He concluded that Mr Higg’s citizenship challenge could not be determined based on the available evidence.

Mr Higgs was represented by Crispin Hall and Nicholas Mitchell, while Gary Francis and Auderio Sears represented the state.

There was no court stenographer present at yesterday’s hearing.

tured r administrations havestrate guilty of illegal landi back can take place, rathe “full powers of a magi before he can be put back than bring them to New and could have easily dealt on a plane and sent .

Matevery Providence with the cases there in nt’s home. This is done rnme gove The grathew Town.” day at LPIA by immi nlast week come as ns gover have actio to “The then said: ly He tion. Clear is has faced intense pres- ment should be aware that on to find migrants guiltynor it long sure from immigrati this may seem fine so neither correct in law What as they plead guilty. plead if they decide to not to guilty? Are you going are e Wher give them bail? if them you going to hold thouin their hundreds and ? sands they say not guilty strate In this case, the magi disl gave them a conditiona er charge. What if a moth a magistrate gives them ent? term of imprisonm Then what?”

The Immigration Act tor empowers the Direc order of Immigration to ne the deportation of anyo nced sente convicted and landto prison for illegally e ing in the Bahamas befors. their sentence experience said Mr Mitchell, however, a after taking this route a magistrate hands down raise prison sentence may ial judic t abou rns conce interference. ell PLP chairman Fred Mitch

PROGRESSIVE FORUM EVENT TO BE HELD AN event aiming to stimulate non-partisan discussion on the subject of ‘progressivism’ is scheduled for this Saturday at the Balmoral Club on Sandford Drive.

The Progressive Forum, organised by former member of Parliament Philip Galanis and Philip P Smith, former Bahamas high commissioner to Canada, runs from 9am to 4.30pm.

“The objective of the Progressive Forum is to discuss, in a non-partisan manner, a topic that has long left the public discourse, namely the concept of progressivism,” Mr Galanis said. “The organisers of this forum have invited persons who are supporters of all political parties and some persons whose political stripes are unknown, and quite frankly, are irrelevant.”

The organisers have invited persons who they believe are committed to the overarching philosophy of social justice, accepting that that concept underpins the term “progressive thought.”

Mr Smith said: “It is our hope that those invited to attend, will recognise that, just as Christianity is not limited to one denomination, nor is belief in God limited to one faith, so too, a true progressive is able to function within any political grouping. Each of us lives in a community which shares the benefit of what is good that happens in our community and suffer the ill effects from those things that are bad in our community.”

The three presenters at the Progressive Forum will be Michael T Stevenson, associate professor at the University of the Bahamas, whose presentation is “the Progressive Agenda;” Gowon Bowe, group chief financial officer of Fidelity

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Bank & Trust International Limited and president of The Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants.

His address is entitled, “The Socio-economic Agenda.” Also speaking will be Nicolette Bethel, assistant professor at the University of the Bahamas who will address the forum on “The Progressive Future.” Following each presentation, there will be a discussion among the invited guests in order to expand input opportunities.

“The organisers believe that we each have a responsibility to do our best to improve the quality of our individual lives and to help, where and when we are able, to improve the quality of the lives of our fellow citizens who live in

the Bahamas. We believe that this forum will enable us to address how this can be done in a unified, nonpartisan manner,” a press release said.

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PAGE 10, Thursday, April 19, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

‘Miss Florida’ denies drug den role from page one Another senior officer, Detective Sergeant Anthony Allen Jr of the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU), said Rolle indicated in her initial interview that she was only present at the residence in question because she went there to get some money from Noel, her boyfriend, concerning their child.

Det Sgt Allen said Rolle claimed ASP Earns and other officers arrived shortly after she had arrived at the home.

However, Det Sgt Allen claimed both Rolle and Moncur admitted in their respective records of interview to being aware that Noel was in possession of suspected marijuana, adding the latter said he agreed to let Noel operate from his home in exchange for payment.

According to the

testimony of ASP Earns, around 10.45am on February 13, he was on mobile patrol with Insp Bain and Detective Corporal Pinder, when, acting on certain information and armed with a search warrant, they proceeded to house #27 on Smith’s Lane.

Upon arrival, they entered the yard and knocked on a southern door of the home before identifying themselves as police. Upon doing so, ASP Earns said he heard shuffling sounds akin to people running coming from inside the house. ASP Earns said he also heard people inside whispering “police”.

He then said he heard the sound of a toilet flushing.

ASP Earns said he forced open the door, and upon doing so observed a male running with a large plastic bowl in his hand. He eventually caught up with the male in a bathroom, where he observed him emptying

the contents of the bowl into the toilet.

The male, who later gave his name as Ilano Noel, was quickly subdued. Inside the toilet was a quantity of suspected marijuana.

ASP Earns said he consequently informed the three suspects hey were suspected of being in possession and dangerous drugs before handing them a search warrant, which he said they all appeared to have read.

He said they were also showed the marijuana in the toilet. Also next to the bathroom door in the hallway was a black, nylon carry-on bag. That bag, which was examined in the presence of the three suspects, contained a black plastic bag as well as 86 foil-wrapped packages, all containing a quantity of suspected marijuana.

The carry-on bag also contained a clear saranwrap package with a quantity of suspected

HANDEREA Alexious Rolle at a previous court appearance. Photo: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff Insp Bain denied Rolle’s said Rolle declined to have assertions, however. a lawyer present for the Nonetheless, Det Sgt interview.

Allen, during his testiThe officer said the mony moments prior, said Ragged Island Street resiwhile on duty sometime dent was asked a “series of around 5.30pm on Febru- questions” that were docuary 13, he received certain mented on an official police information. record of interview sheet.

As a result, he received a Det Sgt Allen said Rolle black, carry-on bag contain- admitted to being aware ing a black plastic shopping of her boyfriend being in bag with a total of 86 silver possession of suspected foil wraps, one clear plastic marijuana. wrap and a green, transparHowever, he said she ent Ziploc package, each claimed she only arrived at containing a quantity of the residence in question suspected marijuana. to collect money from her He said he also received boyfriend, which he later some $50 in mixed currency said was to pay for a Valenand two police reports from tine’s Day-related venture ASP Earns and Insp Bain. concerning their child.

The items were measured Det Sgt Allen said and weight one and a quar- Rolle acknowledged her ter pounds, Det Sgt Allen answers by signing the said. record of interview. HowThe senior officer said ever, she declined to give a he later conducted a writ- statement. ten interview at DEU Upon completion of both with Moncur. During the interviews, both Rolle and interrogation Moncur was Moncur were charged with Denial However, Moncur chal- informed of the offence of possession of dangerous lenged the testimony of which he was suspected of drugs with intent to supply. both ASP Earns and Insp committing, possession of Neither of them gave any Bain, claiming when police dangerous drugs with intent response to the charge at entered his home, he was in to supply and was also the time, he said.

Det Sgt Allen said the his bed sleeping as opposed made aware of his rights to secure legal representation. drugs were dated, initialed to hiding as they said.

However, Det Sgt Allen and signed for future identiMoncur further claimed ASP Earns tapped him said Moncur declined to fication purposes and were on his waist to wake him have an attorney present, so handed over to Detective Inspector Burrows, the from his slumber and, the interview proceeded.

During the interview, exhibit officer at DEU. The after he woke up, he was escorted out of the room Det Sgt Allen said Moncur $50, he said, was seized as into another portion of the subsequently admitted to the suspected proceeds of house and it was then he being aware drugs were in criminal activity, and was his house, and that he was also processed and turned found out about the drugs.

Moncur further claimed aware Noel was operating over to Insp Burrows.

The matter continues he was never shown a from his premises.

The officer said Moncur on May 9. Rolle remains search warrant and, in any told him Noel promised to on bail, while Moncur was event, said he cannot read.

He also stated he is a pay him monies in return remanded into custody “good citizen” of the Baha- for allowing him to sell until that time.

On February 14, Rolle, mas, and hadn’t been in a drugs from his residence.

At the end of the inter- Moncur and Noel were court of law for some 17 years prior to the current view, Det Sgt Allen said arraigned before the deputy matter. He also accused the Moncur acknowledged the chief magistrate on a single officers of “lying” on him, answers he provided by count of possession of danclaiming during the time signing the record of inter- gerous drugs with intent to he was remanded in con- view. However, he said supply.

It is alleged that on the nection with the present Moncur declined to give a written statement. day in question, the three matter, his child died.

Det Sgt Allen said he were found in possession of Rolle, meanwhile, claimed when officers later had an opportunity 1lb 13 ounces of marijuana broke into the house, she to interview Rolle. She with an estimated street was in the front room on too was made aware of value of $1,700.

Noel pleaded not guilty her phone. She said Insp her rights to secure legal Bain took her into the representation, and also to the charge and was senback room, where he and informed of the offence she tenced to 18 months in prison, while Rolle and another officer questioned was accused of committing.

However, Det Sgt Allen Moncur pleaded not guilty. her. marijuana. Police also discovered $50 cash in mixed currency resting on the kitchen counter of the residence.

The suspected marijuana dumped in the toilet was collected and placed in a green plastic bag, ASP Earns said. The suspects were subsequently cautioned and informed that they were under arrest for possession of dangerous drugs.

He said the three were subsequently transported to the South-Central Police Station and booked. The drugs and the cash were ultimately taken to DEU where they were initialed for future identification purposes and handed over to DEU officials for further investigation.

Insp Bain’s testimony mirrored that of ASP Earns.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, April 19, 2018, PAGE 11

PRISON DOCTOR SAYS SUSPECT HAD MULTIPLE INJURIES

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A PRISON doctor testified in the Supreme Court on Wednesday that there were multiple injuries on one of three men accused of the double murder and armed robbery of a Deadman’s Reef couple in Grand Bahama that were possibly consistent with his allegations of police brutality.

Dr Hasting Johnson travelled to Freeport to give evidence in the trial of Devaughn Hall, Paul Belizaire, and Kevin Dames.

They are three of five men initially arrested following the murders of Barry and Sheena Johnson on September 12, 2015, at their triplex apartment in Deadman’s Reef, West Grand Bahama. The couple’s truck and set of keys were also stolen.

Hall, who was fingered in court as the shooter and instigator of the armed robbery, has decided to remain silent and not give evidence during the trial.

Jethlyn Burrows, the attorney for Hall, questioned Dr Johnson about

the accused’s condition on arrival at the prison.

According to Dr Johnson, one of three doctors on staff at the prison, Hall had injuries that were possibly consistent with allegations of him being beaten while in police custody.

The man was examined by a doctor after being transferred from Freeport by police to the prison in New Providence.

Hall also had been admitted to the Accident and Emergency Department at the Princess Margaret Hospital on September 21, 2015, after complaining of pain and being beaten about the body by police while in custody in Freeport.

Dr Johnson noted that Hall had a swollen left ankle, bruising to his left hand and wrist, resulting in reduced mobility of the wrist, and bruising on his scrotums and buttocks.

He said the patient had been treated with two litres of IV fluid and later discharged from the hospital, and prescribed Motrin for pain, Lyrica for nerve pain, a muscle relaxer, and some antacid.

In an official medical report to the commissioner of police, Dr Johnson said he had diagnosed Hall’s condition as “tentative body trauma” while in police custody in Grand Bahama.

Dr Johnson said that he saw Hall on multiple occasions in October and November 2015 while at the prison.

On the occasion of October 19, 2015, he reported that Hall had been diagnosed with acute gastritis and a urinary tract infection. The defendant, he said, had also complained of ankle pain and numbness in his left foot, which was darker in colour. He said that an ultrasound showed no fracture in the ankle.

Ms Burrows asked Dr Johnson what routinely happens when inmates are first brought to the prison.

The doctor said inmates are seen by a medical team which examines the inmate and takes his vitals, and a blood sample to screen for any possible medical conditions.

Attorney Geoffrey Farquharson asked Dr Johnson

THE three men accused of the double murder and armed robbery – Kevin Dames, Devaughn Hall and Paul Belizaire – at an earlier court appearance.

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn application of tight handhow many doctors are on replied the doctor.

During cross-exami- cuffs. Dr Johnson said, staff and inmates at the nation, prosecutor Neil “yes.” prison.

The prosecutor also Dr Johnson noted that Brathwaite asked Dr Johnthere are three doctors and son about the injury to asked whether abrasions Hall’s ankle. to the scrotums, neck, 1,700 inmates.

“Can you give possible and shoulders of Hall Mr Farquharson said: “You are the last line of causes for such an injury?” could have been caused Dr Johnson said there by scratching. The doctor defence for persons if they are abused in custody; I put were many reasons as to agreed that it could.

“Dr Johnson do you it to you that you have a how trauma can be caused know if Devaughn Hall was duty as a doctor to carefully to the ankle.

“A person can twist it, or beaten?” Mr Brathwaite determine how persons present evidence consist- an object can be applied to asked.

“No, not at all,” replied ent with being abused in it,” he said.

“If he gets a swelling Dr Johnson. custody?”

During re-examination, Dr Johnson agreed with would it mean anyone had hit him?”

Ms Burrows asked Dr counsel.

“No,” the doctor replied.

Johnson if her client’s injuMr Farquharson asked: Mr Brathwaite then ries are consistent with the “The injuries sustained by Hall are consistent with asked if bruising to Hall’s nature of someone being wrist and hand could beaten, and Dr Johnson being beaten in custody?”

“It is one possibility,” have been caused by the said that it is a possibility.

Cleared man sues after detention following jury’s not guilty verdict

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net A MAN recently acquitted of murdering another man on Potter’s Cay Dock a day before his birthday three years ago is suing the government for unlawfully detaining him for some five days after he was found not guilty of the crime.

Denico Bowe is suing the government for the “unhygienic and inhumane” conditions he experienced by being detained for 120 hours after being acquitted of the 2015 shooting death of Strauss Edwards Jr on March 14.

According to Bowe’s sworn affidavit, he was forced to urinate in jars and was not provided with access to a toilet. He claimed he was also forced to defecate in a slop bucket, which was “simply dumped periodically”.

He said there were between five to seven men in a cell at any given time.

And if the slop bucket were ever to get full, he would be forced to defecate in a plastic “bread bag”, that is, the narrow, long, plastic bag that holds a regular loaf of bread.

And if his family had not visited him, Mr Bowe claimed in his affidavit, he would not have had the plastic bag to defecate in during his time in custody.

He also claimed he had to “use and experience” other inmates using their T-shirts and socks to clean themselves due to their being no toilet tissue.

“This created a totally unsanitary environment,” he alleged.

He also alleged the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services never provided an update on his release or status, but instead taunted him by saying he may be released “today, tomorrow, Monday, Tuesday, who knows when they ga let you go.”

Bowe also claimed he contracted scabies and was exposed to inmates with tuberculosis, making him sick on numerous occasions. He alleged he was forced to use his “bathing bucket” to drink water from when there were no other containers available.

Bowe is also suing the government for being unlawfully detained from March 14 to March 19 of this year, despite him being given “time served” concerning a charge of causing harm on the former date, and a release order executed on that day by the presiding judge.

As a result, Mr Bowe is seeking general damages, aggravated damages,

interest pursuant to the Civil Procedure (Award of Interest) Act, costs, and other relief the court deems just.

The allegations are contained in a writ of summons and a sworn affidavit, filed by his attorneys Nicholas Mitchell and David Cash, the latter having represented him in his murder retrial over Edwards’ death.

Attorney General Carl Bethel is listed as the first defendant, while Bahamas Department of Correctional Services Commissioner Patrick Wright is listed as the second defendant. Bowe is the plaintiff in the action.

According to the writ, Bowe was incarcerated for approximately two years and six months and housed in the I-block of the BDCS in a cell.

According to the writ, in March 2017, Bowe stood trial on the charges of murder and causing harm before Justice Bernard Turner in connection with Edwards’ murder.

He was sentenced to nine months in prison on the charge of causing harm on May 14, 2017, but because he had already spent two years in “pre-trial detention,” he was given “time served”.

A release order was executed by Justice Turner on March 14, 2017 in relation to the charge of causing harm, but was not signed by the registrar until March 19, 2018.

Nonetheless, Justice Turner’s decision to give him time served effectively ended any period of lawful detention concerning the charge of causing harm, according to the court documents.

Thus, at that stage, Bowe could not have been sentenced nor remanded.

The jury did not reach the “mandatory or any acceptable verdict” on the murder charge and a retrial was consequently ordered.

Nonetheless, Bowe remained on remand for the murder charge, the writ said.

After the pronouncement of his sentence for causing harm, Bowe said he applied for bail concerning his murder charge on two separate occasions, once before Justice Turner and a second time before Justice Carolita Bethel, but was denied on both occasions.

On February 12, 2018, his retrial over Edwards’ murder commenced before Justice Bethel, which ultimately resulted in his acquittal by the jury on March 14, 2018, of the charge of murder.

Thus, according to his affidavit, as of or about March 14, 2018, Bowe had no matters that would

permit his “continued detention” and “no lawful authority” for his “continued custody” as of his acquittal of murder. And according to the affidavit, once the verdict was read Bowe’s attorney indicated to the court in his presence that he had no matters pending or at all that would justify his “continued detention” at the BDCS. And as his sentence for causing harm was served, and he was acquitted of murder, the only matter he had remaining before the court concerned a drug related charge for which he was granted bail in 2014.

However, he was still taken back to the BDCS and kept in custody, according to the affidavit.

Despite the certificate of acquittal from Justice Bethel’s chambers and the release order from Justice Turner’s chambers having been forwarded to the prison, Bowe was held in custody until March 19 of this year.

And during that time, his attorneys claim their client was held in a “grossly confined cell” in the “most deteriorated section” of the BDCS, in violation of his rights under Article 17 of the Constitution.

Messrs Mitchell and Cash further claim their client was subjected to 24-hours of confinement and not given his “obligatory” one hour of exercise pursuant to the Correctional Services Act 2014.

Bowe’s attorneys charge their client was “neither sentenced nor on remand and was being unlawfully detained.”

As a result, Bowe and his attorneys are charging that the “negligence of the second defendant or its agents in failing to take any reasonable, or any steps at all to reinstate the liberty of the plaintiff led to his unlawful detention.”

Messrs Mitchell and Cash also charge that the second defendant, through its “servants, agents or employees” failed to take “any or adequate steps to determine the status of the plaintiff relative to his incarceration upon his return” to the BDCS, and neither did they take any steps to notify the administrative department of the existence of the release order.

They also charged that Commissioner Wright and his subordinates failed to take any steps “to ascertain the status of the individuals” being transported back to the BDCS. The lawyers claim their client was “deprived of his liberty without lawful authority amounting to

unlawful detention for approximately 120 hours.”

“In the premises, the detention of the plaintiff starting on or about 3.31pm on March 14, 2018, through March 19, 2018, at or about 11.30am was unlawful as there was no reasonable ground or lawful authority for the plaintiff’s continued detention during the material period,” the writ said.

“The plaintiff was subjected to inhumane and degrading conditions beyond the period of his lawful detention and in the premises is entitled to and claims aggravated damages along with general damages for unlawful detention.”

Bowe and his attorneys also claim that their client is a “practising Rastafarian”

who informed the prison staff of his religion and its practices, and was still made to “consume food and engage in practices which violated his beliefs, or in the alternative prevented him from engaging in the rituals, practices and traditions of his faith thereby infringing on his absolute Constitutional right to freedom of religion.”

PAGE 12, Thursday, April 19, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

EXCAVATOR BLAMED FOR PUERTO RICO BLACKOUT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — An islandwide blackout hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday after an excavator accidentally downed a transmission line, officials said, as the US territory struggles to repair an increasingly unstable power grid nearly seven months after Hurricane Maria.

Officials said it could take 24 to 36 hours to fully restore power to more than 1.4 million customers as outrage grew across the island about the state of Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority. It was the second major outage in less than a week, with the previous one affecting some 840,000 customers.

“This is too much,” said Luis Oscar Rivera, a computer technician who just got normal power back at his house less than two months ago. “It’s like the first day of Maria all over again.”

BUMP STOCK MAKER TO STOP ORDERS

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The largest manufacturer of bump stocks, which allow semi-automatic weapons to fire rapidly like automatic firearms, announced yesterday it will stop taking orders and shut down its website next month.

The announcement comes about a month after President Donald Trump said his administration would “ban” bump stocks.

The devices became a focal point of the national gun control debate when they were used in October when Stephen Paddock carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. About a dozen bump stocks were found among the weapons used when he unleashed a hail of bullets from his high-rise Las Vegas hotel suite, killing 58 people.

BILL Cosby arrives for his sexual assault trial yesterday at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown.

Photo: Matt Slocum/AP

Witness claims Cosby accuser talked of framing a celebrity NORRISTOWN, Pa. Associated Press THE chief accuser at Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial talked about framing a celebrity before going to police with her allegations in 2005, a key defence witness testified yesterday as the TV star’s lawyers began putting on their case.

Marguerite Jackson, an academic adviser at Temple University, said Andrea Constand told her she could fabricate sexual assault allegations and “get that money” from a civil suit, bolstering Cosby’s efforts to show Constand made up the allegations against him to extort a big civil settlement.

Jackson’s account was

immediately challenged by prosecutors, who suggested she wasn’t on the trip where she says her conversation with Constand took place.

Jackson took the witness stand after a judge overruled prosecutors and said she could tell her story to the jury.

She said Constand spoke of the plot while they were rooming together on a road trip to Rhode Island with the Temple University women’s basketball team, where Constand was working as operations director.

After watching a TV news report about a celebrity who had been accused of sexual assault, Jackson said Constand told her: “Oh wow, something similar happened to me.” Constand

said she never reported the assault because her assailant was a “high-profile person” and she knew she couldn’t prove it, Jackson testified.

Jackson said she encouraged Constand to report it.

She told jurors that Constand then switched gears, saying: “No it didn’t, but I could say it did. I could say it happened, get that money. I could quit my job.

I could go back to school. I could open up a business.”

Jackson said the conversation happened February 1, 2004, a few weeks after Constand says Cosby drugged and molested her at his suburban Philadelphia home. The defense hoped Jackson’s testimony would bolster Cosby’s

efforts to show Constand fabricated the allegations against him to extort a big civil settlement. Cosby paid Constand nearly $3.4m in 2006.

Constand testified Monday she didn’t “recall ever having a conversation with” Jackson.

On cross examination, prosecutors produced records of Jackson’s travel to other away games but not to the one at the University of Rhode Island, where she says this chat happened.

Prosecutors wound down their case earlier Wednesday, introducing the comedian’s explosive testimony about giving quaaludes to women before sex — an old admission that’s taken on new

significance after a halfdozen women testified that he drugged and violated them.

A police detective read a transcript of the 2005 testimony as prosecutors saved for the very end of their case Cosby’s own words about using the 1970s party drug “the same as a person would say, ‘Have a drink.’”

Cosby, now 80, is being retried on charges he drugged and molested Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home. He says their encounter was consensual.

Cosby was deposed in 2005 and 2006 after Constand filed suit against him.

The deposition was hidden from public view until 2015.

PAGE 14, Thursday, April 19, 2018

END OF AN ERA AS CASTRO TO STEP DOWN TODAY

IN this March 17, 2015, file photo, Cuba’s President Raul Castro listens to the playing of national anthems during his welcome ceremony at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela. Raul Castro will step down as president today after a decade in office.

Photo: Ariana Cubillos/AP HAVANA Associated Press THE Cuban government yesterday selected 57-yearold First Vice President Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez as the sole candidate to succeed President Raul Castro in a transition aimed at ensuring that the country’s single-party system outlasts the aging revolutionaries who created it.

The certain approval of Diaz-Canel by members of the unfailingly unanimous National Assembly will install someone from outside the Castro family in the country’s highest government office for the first time in nearly six decades.

The 86-year-old Castro will remain head of the Communist Party, designated by the constitution as “the superior guiding force of society and the state.”

As a result, Castro will

remain the most powerful person in Cuba for the time being. His departure from the presidency is nonetheless a symbolically charged moment for a country accustomed to 60 years of absolute rule first by revolutionary leader Fidel Castro and, for the last decade, his younger brother.

Facing biological reality but still active and apparently healthy, Raul Castro is stepping down as president in an effort to guarantee that new leaders can maintain the government’s grip on power in the face of economic stagnation, an aging population and increasing disenchantment among younger generations.

“I like sticking with the ideas of President Fidel Castro because he did a lot for the people of Cuba, but we need rejuvenation, above all in the economy,” said Melissa Mederos, a

21-year-old schoolteacher.

“Diaz-Canel needs to work hard on the economy, because people need to live a little better.”

Most Cubans know their first vice president as an uncharismatic figure who until recently maintained a public profile so low it was virtually nonexistent. That image changed slightly this year as state media placed an increasing spotlight on Diaz-Canel’s public appearances, including remarks to the press last month that included his promise to make Cuba’s government more responsive to its people.

“We’re building a relationship between the government and the people here,” he said then after casting a ballot for members of the National Assembly.

“The lives of those who will be elected have to be focused on relating to the

people, listening to the people, investigating their problems and encouraging debate.”

Diaz-Canel gained prominence in central Villa Clara province as the top Communist Party official, a post equivalent to governor.

There, people described him as a hard-working, modest-living technocrat dedicated to improving public services. He became higher education minister in 2009 before moving into the vice presidency.

In a video of a Communist Party meeting that inexplicably leaked to the public last year, Diaz-Canel expressed a series of orthodox positions that included somberly pledging to shutter some independent media and labeling some European embassies as outposts of foreign subversion.

But he has also defended academics and bloggers

who became targets of hardliners, leading some to describe him a potential advocate for greater openness in a system intolerant of virtually any criticism or dissent. International observers and Cubans alike will be scrutinising every move he makes after he officially takes office today.

Two years after taking over from his ailing brother in 2006, Castro launched a series of reforms that expanded Cuba’s private sector to nearly 600,000 people and allowed citizens greater freedom to travel and access to information.

He has failed to fix the generally unproductive and highly subsidised state-run businesses that, along with a Soviet-model bureaucracy, employ three of every four Cubans. State salaries average $30 a month, leaving workers struggling to feed their families.

THE TRIBUNE

UN TEAM FIRED ON AT SYRIA SITE

BEIRUT (AP) — Assailants opened fire at a UN security team visiting the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria, an official said yesterday, forcing it to retreat to its base and further delaying a fact-finding mission by outside experts to examine the claims.

Gunmen shot at the UN team in Douma on Tuesday and detonated an explosive, leading it to return to Damascus, said the head of the international chemical weapons watchdog, Ahmet Uzumcu. He did not identify the assailants.

Inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have been waiting since Saturday to visit Douma, the site of the alleged April 7 attack. They were initially blocked by the Syrian government and its ally, Russia, on Monday.

Then on Tuesday, the advance security team from the UN came under fire, compounding the delays.

BLACK PANTHER BREAKTHROUGH IN SAUDI ARABIA

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia held a private screening yesterday of the Hollywood blockbuster “Black Panther” to herald the launch of movie theaters in the kingdom, and tickets go on sale Thursday for public showings on Friday.

Authorities planned the invitation-only event in a concert hall converted into a cinema complex in the capital, Riyadh. The screening, attended by both men and women, will be followed by a rush to build movie theaters in major cities.

The Saudi government dubbed Wednesday’s event as “the showing of the first commercial film in the kingdom after more than 35 years”.