West Bay man secures own acquittal
Cayman courts, Grand Cayman
(CNS): A local man from West Bay who defended himself against burglary charges in the Grand Court without the assistance of an attorney walked away from court a free man this week after several months on remand after he was acquitted by the jury.
Tonie Bush was accused of trespassing and stealing a PlayStation 3 and its controller during a break-in on Hell Road earlier this year. But following a short trial the jury in the case deliberated for roughly 25 minutes Wednesday before coming to the unanimous decision that he was not guilty of the crime.
Upon hearing the verdict, Bush, who was in the dock, was clearly delighted as he jumped up and declared, “Yes, your honor!”
Justice Malcolm Swift, who presided over the case, thanked the jury for its role in the trial before telling Bush that he was discharged from further court attendance due to his acquittal.
On his way out Bush announced, “God is great sir!”
My message to Bush and anyone else like Bush that finds him/her self in court , and can defend yourself and win, shows the talent that you have . Why not use that talent and time to get the education and a good job , so you can stay out of the court house. Remember that good honesty people don’t find themselves in the court house defending him/her self.
His lawyer in the summary court tried to get this thrown out but the Magistrate allowed it to continue. His lawyer went on leave and so he represented himself….good for him. Blame lies not only with the DPP but also the lower courts who are sometimes too weak, political or scared to make obvious but unfavourable decisions.
Whom shall they Blame now??? They have come here and meddle with every single institution on this island, installed who they wanted,(their own kind) removed the decent and most efficient and diligent persons the island has to offer and now they are fully incharge and in full control of everything. Yet they have blamed everybody and have come up with every excuse in the world to explain their own incompetence and ineptness and are now blaming their own inspired corruption for their complete failure to keep this little island safe and secure and from being destroyed. Therefore the only assumption one can assume is that, this was the well orchestrated plan all along! Even the Caymanian dogs are upset now too! Oh but the UK’s economy flourishing eh???
Just goes to show you, forget about the same ‘ol government appointed lawyers as well as paying “the man” some big retainer and close to $1000 an hour. Represent ya self and walk away scott free. Cant do no wurst!
Can the RCIP and the DPP get any worse? We are wasting probably close to $50,000,000 annually on these two disfuntional units of government.
These two entities should be staffed by People from the UK or Cayman. Instead we import those who struggle to pronounce words properly and expect them to perform at a entire different level.
The DPP at its finest once again. Based on the evidence at hand this case should never have made it to court. Thank you DPP for once again wasting valuable court time and resources.
The evidence presented by this totally illiterate foreign police service is the problem not the DPP stop blaming them. Remember they are here to reflect the diversity of the island clearly not to prevent and detect crime Yes Cayman you continue believing in this UK run Bul%$#@ see how far we will get with that. What a frigging disgrace!!!! Wow!!!!! Can you dig it!
The decision to prosecute is not down to the Police.The DPP prepares the case. If the DPP doesn’t think there is sufficient evidence to achieve a conviction, the DPP should inform the police of that fact. The Police should then go out and attempt to find that evidence. If the Police can’t find sufficient evidence, then the DPP should make the decision not to bring the case “in the public interest” (i.e. so as not to waste public time and money).
There is and old saying in the Law “he who represents himself has a fool for a client”. It would seem likely (and I was not present, so I cannot say more definitely) that there genuinely was little or no case to answer if an untrained person was able to convince a jury so easily.
That sounded quite plausible if it weren’t for the fact they are now incharge of the DPP too, so stop trying to make excuses for those who have come here merely to seek employment and to smash this little place to pieces.
But DPP must review the case presented by police first before it goes to court. Police are not lawyers so they expect guidance from DPP. When the case gets to court it’s all DPPs fault when it fails because they should know if there is enough evidence. It was much better when Andre Mondesir was in DPP. It would never get pass him unless all Ts crossed and i’s dotted
cayman justice at its finest…. well done again to rcips and the dpp…..zzzzzzzzzzzz
You mean Jamaica justice.
Look up “opportunity gap”.
A very real crisis here in Cayman and one that should be treated as such.
Good for him
If this isn’t evidence that a complete overhaul is needed in the DPP, then I do not what else is needed to get rid of that group of idiots.
WOW … more and more people are representing themselves AND winning. Shame on the DPP as it now sounds like anyone including my pet dog could win a case against them!
If your dog has a third grade level education, then yes he will be victorious.