Man walks free after disputed drug case settled
(L-R) Peter Polack, Andre Woodman and Peter Champagnie (photo by Rosie McNamee)
(CNS) A long standing disputed case in which police had used an unlawful warrant in a drug bust was settled Tuesday with an eight month time-served sentence, despite the significant quantity of drugs seized. Charged in 2013 with a number of offences, Andre Woodman admitted possession of ganja and cocaine and consumption of ganja in November last year after prosecutors dropped the more serious charges of intent to supply drugs, and he walked away from court a free man yesterday.
Woodman was charged following a police raid on a house in Northward in November 2013, in which officers seized drug paraphernalia, scales, bags, ten ounces of ganja and almost seven ounces of cocaine, including rock cocaine. A woman who was also arrested at the house and charged separately was acquitted in June 2014 after the Grand Court ruled that her statement was inadmissible because RCIPS officers failed to caution her properly, and the crown declined to pursue the case.
Woodman’s lawyer, Peter Polack, filed complaints against the justice of the peace and the investigating officer over the search warrant used during the bust, which was later ruled illegal. Woodman was then bailed after eight months on remand.
Following the ruling, a complaint was made to the RCIPS Anti-Corruption Unit over the illegal search warrant and several other matters.
The case continued for over two years with the police and prosecutors being unable to complete disclosure. In November 2015, when Woodman was due to stand trial for drug dealing, he pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of possession and prosecutors agreed to withdraw the supply charges.
The case was finally closed yesterday when the court sentenced Woodman to eight months in jail and his attorneys confirmed that all complaints against Justice of the Peace William Wood and DC Winston Harrison were withdrawn.
Woodman was defended by Jamaican lawyer Peter Champagnie, who was instructed by Polack and Co. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions was represented by Greg Walcolm.
It’s pretty simple… There are rules that the police, the Justice of the Peace and the prosecutors must follow. These rules are in place in order to prevent abuse by the authorities. The police, the Justice of the Peace and prosecutors are not above the law. In fact, they should follow the law even more stringently than most, given that they are the ones charged with upholding the law. For those who don’t like this verdict, tough. Do you really think that the Grand Court would have allowed this man to walk had the authorities done their job properly? Next time, follow the law! I don’t think that anyone is well served in a society where the police, prosecutors, and the Justices of the Peace are given free reign to do as they please. If they were given free reign your next traffic stop might end up in a drug bust (where a half kilo of cocaine suddenly appears in your trunk)… Or next time you criticize a politician you may end up disappearing in the middle of the night (Russia et al). I have lived in a country for 10 years where any political dissent was stifled by midnight disappearances and/or public show trials. If there’s any blame to go around it’s on the police, the prosecutor (how is it that they always have such a hard time providing proper disclosure?), and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Perhaps some changes are in order at the Office, starting with the very top – it appears that they keep making the same mistakes over, and over, and over again. Is this why they’re being paid top money, to keep making the same mistakes over again???
All these guys look well accomplished and happy. My boy is just laughing from the inside and thinking “My new name is now Lucky Woodman”.
Now, let’s see what Mr. Woodman will do with this new lease on his freedom.
Please don’t waste the fair and right justice defence that Peter Polack and Co has fought for and given you. You win, congratulations.
Now…Don’t Sell Drugs anymore, is what I’m saying.
Go back to air-conditioning?
More slackness by the DPP.
Glad you are happy Peter. Thanks for contributing to a safe society.
Deportation order?
For the idiot police officers who obtained an illegal warrant and failed to properly caution a suspect.
Caymanian, sorry. Son of the soil.