The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

LENGTHY court delays are characteristic of the Judiciary System and is something complainants should accept, one attorney suggested to The Tribune yesterday.

He was speaking when contacted after Christopher Gibson, a 54-year-old disabled man and one of his former clients, said six years after he was injured in a car accident, he is still waiting for his case to tried before the courts and is frustrated by the lack of justice being given to him. Mr Gibson had his left leg amputated “15 or 16 years ago”.

He added that he was walking in the Sea Breeze area around 8pm on October 11th, 2007 when a ford vehicle struck and “nearly killed” him.

According to a police report, the driver of the vehicle that struck him was charged with “driving without due care and attention.”

When contacted, one of his former lawyers said Mr Gibson’s matter is before the courts.

Critical of Mr Gibson for complaining about his problems to this newspaper, the lawyer said: “There is no issue here. Some people have been waiting for justice for ten years.”

He added that Mr Gibson “can’t compensate any lawyer” and that he parted ways with him because he was “too demanding”.

In response, Mr Gibson said his lawyer’s statements prove what he has always known, which is that his poverty puts him at a disadvantage by the Judiciary System and makes him unlikely to find justice.

Mr Gibson said when he regained consciousness after being taken to Princess Margaret Hospital in 2007, the driver of the vehicle that struck him was at his bed-side and told him he was trying to avoid hitting another vehicle when he ended up hitting him instead.

According to a 2008 medical report, a doctor noted that Mr Gibson would have a “painful process to recovery” and that he “experiences difficulties with the left knee and right shoulder and while the fracture of the knee has been healed, there is at least a 25% chance of further ligament damage which will cause problems with pain and degeneration of the joint over time”.

The report added that an “occult knee ligament or occult shoulder soft tissue injury can only be ruled out by MRI scanning of the knee which Mr Gibson is unable to afford at this time”.

To undergo an MRI scan of his leg, Mr Gibson said he borrowed $1,500 from members of his church.

Today, he rarely attends the church because he is unable to repay members the money he owes them, he said.

He said he no longer has a lawyer because his all of his previous lawyers kept him “in the dark over” over the status of his case. He said he believes the justice system has forgotten about him.

“But I can’t give up,” he added. “You seem my hand? You see me? I can’t even pay my bills. I have no choice but to keep moving on with this and hope they give me justice.”