By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
THE Attorney General's office will not pursue legal action against V Alfred Gray following its investigation into the allegations of judicial interference that have dogged the MICAL MP this year.
On Friday night the Attorney General's office released a statement citing a conflicting "nature of evidence" as reason to not "institute criminal proceedings" against any person connected to the matter.
"While it may be tempting to draw conclusions from allegations reported (second hand) in the media, it is important at all times that evidence guides the decision making process," the statement said.
"This is especially important to preserve fairness and the integrity of all trial proceedings."
The statement said Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson has recommended to Chief Justice Hartman Longley that "stipendiary and circuit magistrates increase their circuit work" to reduce the chances of similar allegations being made in the future and to protect the integrity of the judicial system.
The decision not to bring charges against Mr Gray, the Minister for Agriculture and Marine Resources, is expected to sit poorly with the Free National Movement (FNM), which has called for Mr Gray's resignation from Cabinet and has criticised the Attorney General's office for "dragging its feet" while deliberating on the matter. The Attorney General's office received a report on the matter from Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade on April 20.
The FNM alleged in March that Mr Gray used his Cabinet position to free a man in his constituency, reversing the man's conviction and sentencing. The FNM organised protests in New Providence in view of the allegations, demanding Mr Gray's resignation.
FNM chairman Michael Pintard said on Friday night his party is not surprised by the Attorney General's decision
"It does not come as a surprise that the Attorney General has made the determination that she has made, no doubt in conjunction with the cabinet of the Bahamas," he said. "We have said all along that the Attorney General is conflicted. The Attorney General obviously is unable to rise above the inherent conflict of her position, sitting alongside colleagues upon whom she has been called on to investigate. She is unable to make an impartial decision on the fate of people she enjoys a collegial relationship."
In his defence, Mr Gray has said that he contacted Mayaguana Adminstrator Zephaniah Newbold only to offer "legal advice." He denied that he attempted to sway the course of justice, saying he only advised the administrator that he had the option of granting bail since an appeal had been filed.
However, Mr Newbold told reporters that he released the convicted youth, 19-year-old Jaquan Charlton, outright "after an order came forth."
In a letter to the chief magistrate obtained by The Tribune, Mr Newbold alleged that Mr Gray threatened to transfer him from Mayaguana if he refused to release the accused teen.
However, Wayne Munroe, the lawyer who represented Mr Gray in the matter, denied Mr Newbold's claims, saying that phone records would cause people to question the veracity of the administrator's version of events.
In March, Mr Gray requested that the local government portfolio of his ministerial responsiblity be transferred to another minister pending the outcome of the police investigation. His responsibilities were subsequently transferred to Financial Services Minister Hope Strachan.
It is unclear if Mr Gray will now regain responsibility for the local government portfolio. A government spokesperson said last night that such a determination will be made by Prime Minister Perry Christie.
Mr Gray declined to comment on Friday night on the Attorney General's announcement, saying he will speak on the matter when he returns to New Providence from Acklins.
In a previous interview with The Tribune, Mr Munroe predicted that his client would not be charged, saying that the Attorney General would instead take steps necessary to eliminate the possibility of future instances of alleged judicial interference from taking place.
Comments
DonAnthony 8 years, 11 months ago
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DonAnthony 8 years, 11 months ago
The FNM should not allow Gray to speak again in his capacity as minister in parliament until he resigns.
birdiestrachan 8 years, 11 months ago
Exactly what were they going to charge him with?, It could stand in no court of law. All of these so called scandals are a figment of the FNM;s imagination , promoted by an FNM press.
concernedcitizen 8 years, 11 months ago
You mean a figment ,like you saying you owned stock in Freeport power and they have not paid dividends in years when last year they paid out over 4.6 % ,,Which is a good yield ,,,
Alex_Charles 8 years, 11 months ago
great so if me or anyone I know gets locked up I know who to call. Like I always say if you want justice in this failed state you better be prepared to kill for it, because the legal system isn't on your side.
TruthHurts 8 years, 11 months ago
@Alex_Charles
Let me get this straight.. wasn't the accused arrested, prosecuted and charged all by the same person??? How does that work? If this was done then I can't condone it. Just as I can't condone Mr. Gray making matters worse by overstepping his position in releasing him.
ohdrap4 8 years, 11 months ago
As mr. Bumble said in Oliver twist: The law is an arse.
John 8 years, 11 months ago
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ThisIsOurs 8 years, 11 months ago
And if he was? how does it change the accusation? Straw generals
John 8 years, 11 months ago
would you like him to be handling your young son, alone in an isolated family island jail cell and breaking his arm? What is an accusation anyway.
ThisIsOurs 8 years, 11 months ago
Accusation: a charge or claim that someone has done something illegal or wrong. "accusations of bribery" synonyms: allegation, charge, claim, assertion, imputation
My point was, what does that have to do with Alfred Gray allegedly threatening a magistrate and not being punished for it?
ThisIsOurs 8 years, 11 months ago
This is WEIRD. The Administrator has the word of Justice Pratt to back him up and the AG says that's not enough? She might as well fire Justice Pratt if she can't trust her word.
Something is afoot here...on the eve of the carnival opening in Freeport, the Rubis report was released. I told my friend that I thought it was released at that time to hide the story underneath the euphoria of carnival. He told me that didn't make sense. Now after weeks of waiting for action, the Alfred Gray non-decision is released at the end of the day, on another Friday evening, the eve of carnival main event Nassau. These people are too cute for their own good. Is it true the PM was booed last night? You're fooling no one other than birdie.
DonAnthony 8 years, 11 months ago
I thought the same thing regarding the timing.
Emac 8 years, 11 months ago
Yes he was booed! The crowd next to me were heckling him to death. Lol...They were calling him every name but a child of God. :-)
TruthHurts 8 years, 11 months ago
@ThisIsOurs
LMAO..They too cute, and WE stuck on stupid! Good Match!
banker 8 years, 11 months ago
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Islandgirl 8 years, 11 months ago
This woman is one big disgrace. No pretty or sophisticated diction can supersede the ugliness that she espouses and releases upon us. There have to be changes. Our country is not going to survive with this kind of 'justice', and I use that term very loosely, in play. There has to be a way to make the position of attorney general an elected one, a non-partisan one, not a position chosen by the governing party of the day. Just look at all the trash this fool has come up with and cloaks it in pretty, king sized words. All this victimization and rule by intimidation, straight out of the late 60's to the early 90's. My God. How does this woman even look at herself in the mirror or sleep well at night? I pray that people think before they vote in the next election, and that there is a coalition government instead brought about by people voting for the best qualified individual in a constituency and not the party. And when that takes place, a Commission of Inquiry with teeth should be held. Every one of these bastards should be prosecuted, jailed, and all the assets illegally accumulated during their time in power confiscated and contributed to promoting the betterment of this country. They destroyed it and they should pay for its rebuilding by not only setting an example through the loss of their freedom for those that would try to slick their way to wealth, but also by having them stripped of all their ill gotten gains. No reward for nasty and ugly behavior. We are so tired of them. The world has changed and they cannot hide any longer nor can they revise history like they have done repeatedly the last fifty years. Ring the bell.
Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years, 11 months ago
You are so right about Allyson Maynard-Gibson being an utter despicable disgrace. There is now an abundance of evidence, both fact and circumstantial, pointing to her abusive use of the Attorney General's Office to provide political cover for just about any illegal activity involving cabinet ministers and other senior officials of the PLP. To the extent senior officials within the AG's Office continue to remain silent about the abuses that have occurred, they too will be labelled as having fully participated in the abuses and eventually suffer pretty much the same consequences that will befall Maynard-Gibson down the road.
ThisIsOurs 8 years, 11 months ago
Yes
TruthHurts 8 years, 11 months ago
@Islandgirl
Agreed!! I am soooo ready for change it hurts! If these jokers can't do right by us WE need to step up. Tired of the political mind games, while our people are starving in this country either from the lack of food, knowledge, proper education and A Dream! The only means to get ahead is to develop a 'black crab' mentality and I ain't down with that shytt!! Never have, never will!
ThisIsOurs 8 years, 11 months ago
What was the AG doing being interviewed on the carnival coverage? Saying how wonderful everything was. They seem to all be selling some really spiced up games and parties koolaid. I suppose they will all show up again today and sit on their high porch (/skybox) watching the slaves in the field enjoy their festival. No BAMSI, PHA, BEC power, NIB, VAT, Alfred Gray, BEC bribe, Bahamar, WSC, Renew Bahamas, BOB loans or NHI. All tears wiped away...
duppyVAT 8 years, 11 months ago
Excellent!!!!!!!!! Now we have one more PLP poster boy to hold up in Parliament as sitting under a cloud of dishonour
TruthHurts 8 years, 11 months ago
"So, go ahead, #jumpindaline and bury your head in the sand people, but don't say you weren't warned."
I love that!! ; ) We need to have shirts with that printed with mascot Pot-cake himself, with his head buried!
Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years, 11 months ago
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Observer 8 years, 11 months ago
It is over. If yinna want another task, check the background of 'the party Chairman'.
jusscool 8 years, 11 months ago
And the Negro Groucho Marx wins again
by jusscool
John 8 years, 11 months ago
Carnival will be over in a few hours, now back to politics. So far an alternative, viable government is still invisible.
EasternGate 8 years, 11 months ago
This Government must lead from the rectum. Everything they mixed up in smell shitty!
John 8 years, 11 months ago
Stop hating
duppyVAT 8 years, 11 months ago
Well ....... Perry better come up with another party for next week ........ and the next ........ til 2017 because this is bad timing for anything of this magnitude to be released ...... BTW the AG and Bernie out on the road in the line ........... go figger
TruthHurts 8 years, 11 months ago
#jumpindaline Ma *iggas!!
So Sad!
ThisIsOurs 8 years, 11 months ago
I had a wonderful time in the road fever parade today, looking forward to 2016! Now, I'd like to know if the Commissioner of Police recommended that charges should be brought against Alfred Gray....
TruthHurts 8 years, 11 months ago
LOL You are too funny!
Reality_Check 8 years, 11 months ago
Any conflict in the "Gray say, Newbold say" evidence should be easily overcome by the mere fact that Newbold had no motive whatsoever to release Gray's constituent from custody other than fear of reprisal from Gray if Newbold did not do as Gray had no doubt forcefully and intimidatingly told him to do. Any discrepancies in the recollections by Gray and Newbold of the number and/or duration of their phone discussions should not form the basis for excusing the wrongful acts of either Gray or Newbold. Gray wrongfully intervened in a law enforcement matter involving his constituent and Newbold wrongfully released the man held in custody upon being demanded to do so by Gray in a more than likely threatening way. No matter how you cut this, both Gray and Newbold should be held to account for the illegal acts they have committed in a Court of law. The shear absurdity of Allyson Maynard-Gibson (and possibly Greenslade) taking the position that no charges should be pressed against anyone in this matter defies all logic and credibility. What our Attorney General has done here is not that different from what Gray should have been charged with doing. Stop interfering with and intervening in legal processes that should be allowed to run their course under the law!
ThisIsOurs 8 years, 11 months ago
Also the fact that Justice Pratt(?) told the officer to relay to the message to the magistrate NOT to release the prisoner and he did it anyway, indicates that someone with more weight than the Justice told him to do otherwise. Who could that someone be? and what leverage could they have used?
maryann 8 years, 11 months ago
When this man is not meddling legal matters, He is meddling associations matters, this man tneeds to be exposed again for getting into things he has no business.
Economist 8 years, 11 months ago
Conflicting evidence? Of course there is conflicting evidence that is what happens in every case.
There is every reason to proceed to court, but the Ag is so incompetent what else do you expect.
Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years, 11 months ago
While the AG is certainly incompetent in many respects, it is her apparent willingness to misuse the AG's Office to provide protection and cover for likely illegal acts of her political friends and business cronies that is so alarming.
John 8 years, 11 months ago
A lot of the brass of the PLP will be retiring in the 2017 election. The draw in 2017 will be determined by how much the economy improves, job creation and what is done about crime. Where will Gray be in 2017?
duppyVAT 8 years, 11 months ago
Old PLP soldiers do not retire ................... they are fired by the people or they die in Office/civil service/consultancies ................ they rob the cookie jars all the way to their graves
SP 8 years, 11 months ago
Nothing unexpected here. AG has once again done her job of protecting pirate colleagues.
Lets see what slick tactics she will use to deflect the coming fallout from insider leaks on under the table deals pulled with oil exploration companies!
Tarzan 8 years, 11 months ago
Shocked that the A.G. did not find some pretense to leave the country so the Minister with Portfolio for Taxi Licensing could not Nolle Prosse the case.
jackbnimble 8 years, 11 months ago
No shock here. You can say what you like about the PLP, they sure do look out for themselves and their cronies.
duppyVAT 8 years, 11 months ago
The Nolle AG at it again ................. let us wait for her ruling on BAMSI arsonist and BEC bribetaker ............................... and the BEC/PowerSecure deal ........... and the BPC deal etc
She is a disagrace to the OAG ................... a perfect example of what is wrong with the PLP regime
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