Two-year wait for a judge’s signature

Donavan McGann was convinced, two years ago, that he was close to the $5-million payout he was awarded in his lawsuit that had crawled through Jamaica’s notoriously slow court system for five years.

Supreme Court judge Justice Vinnette Graham-Allen had ordered the payment to the elderly unemployed security guard in a ruling that was handed down on November 18, 2019, according to court documents reviewed by The Sunday Gleaner.

The assessment of damages hearing to determine the award was postponed three times before Graham-Allen in 2018 and once in 2017, the records show.

McGann, 66, filed the lawsuit in 2014 against the owners of a minibus that he claimed knocked him from his bicycle along Spanish Town Road near the Hagley Park Road intersection in 2010, causing life-altering injuries.

A default judgment was entered in the case on March 23, 2016 after the owners of the vehicle, listed in court documents as Dorrell and Andrea Francis, failed to acknowledge receipt of the lawsuit or file a defence.

According to McGann, his attorneys explained that Graham-Allen was required to sign the order she made before it could be served on the Francises, as well as the company that insured the minibus.

“That’s all it needed … for her to sign the judgment and give it to the lawyers,” he said during an interview with The Sunday Gleaner last Wednesday.

“So, I was saying to myself within three months the insurance company will have enough time to look at it and then now I would give it another month.”

But what McGann could not imagine is that it would take almost two years for Graham-Allen to affix her signature to the document, tacking on another 23 months to a case that did not involve a trial.

CASE FILE WITH PRESIDING JUDGE

McGann produced letters his attorneys wrote to the Supreme Court Registrar – the latest in April this year – about the delays, but said court staff indicated that the case file was with Graham-Allen, who was presiding over trials in the Criminal Division of the High Court.

“Now I’m beginning to wonder what is really happening, is the justice system fair?” he said.

The Sunday Gleaner submitted questions about the case to the Court Administration Division (CAD) last Monday.

Kadiesh Fletcher, acting director of client services, communication and information at CAD, responded on Wednesday confirming that Graham-Allen signed the order on Tuesday, “November 9” this year.

There was no explanation for the delay.

McGann confirmed on Friday that the signed order was now with his attorneys.

Though elated that Graham-Allen had finally signed the order, he said the damage has already been done.

The 66-year-old walks with a cane and has a pin in his left leg that was inserted by doctors while he was hospitalised with a broken femur for two months after the accident.

“The cost of the pin was $148,000,” he recounted.

But the financial hit, McGann said, has been far more punishing.

The former security guard claimed that he was dismissed by his employers in 2015 after the injuries from the mishap worsened and doctors concluded that he could no longer perform his duties.

He has not been able to find employment since.

“Devastating! All me bills dem gone skyrocket. Not even sky-high like skyrocket,” McGann declared.

“If a never fi the aid a me sister maybe me woulda dead already or gone a prison.”

One of the most pressing issues for the senior citizen is to repair the leaking roof of his south St Andrew home.

To have it done properly is projected to cost between $600,000 and $700,000 based on the last estimate, he said.

“If me did get the money in a dem time deh it woulda cost me $200,000 fi do it,” he said, referring to the previous estimate.

In the meantime, the elderly man said “a patch me haffi patch it up”.

“Now and again me buy a one zinc and patch it up and dem thing deh,” he stressed.

TIMELINE FOR THE DONAVAN MCGANN LAWSUIT

(Based on court documents)

• September 18, 2010

Date of the accident that resulted in the lawsuit.

• August 15, 2014

Date Donavan McGann filed the lawsuit in the Supreme Court. Advantage General Insurance Company, which insured the minibus involved in the crash, was also notified of the lawsuit.

• May 28, 2015

McGann applied for a default judgment.

• November 18, 2015

Another application for default judgment.

• March 23, 2016

Supreme Court awards default judgment to McGann.

Court also indicated that the amount to be awarded will be determined by an assessment of damages hearing.

• February 2, 2017

First date for the assessment of damages hearing.

• May 21, 2018

Second assessment of damages hearing scheduled before Supreme Court judge Justice Vinnette Graham-Allen.

• October 19, 2018

Third assessment of damages hearing scheduled before Graham-Allen.

• November 21, 2018

Fourth assessment of damages scheduled before Graham-Allen.

• November 18, 2019

Assessment of damages hearing completed and Graham-Allen orders that McGann be awarded just over $5 million with interest.

Judgment and formal orders along with a letter requesting her signature also submitted on this day.

• 16 April 2021

McGann’s attorneys wrote to the Supreme Court Registrar complaining that several checks were made at the Civil Registry, but no judgment or order was ready for collection.

• November 9, 2021

Graham-Allen signs the orders.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com