Murder convict files suit to block extension of DPP’s tenure

Double murder convict Mervin Cameron filed a suit in the Supreme Court on Monday seeking an order to bar the Government from extending the appointment of Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn, KC, for a second time.

Cameron stated in his affidavit that in the course of inquiring if a purported second extension was gazetted, he discovered that Llewellyn’s first extension to remain in office as DPP beyond the age of 60 was not gazetted.

He is seeking a declaration that in the absence of a gazetted appointment for Llewellyn to remain in office, it renders her office vacant.

Cameron is also seeking a declaration that the purported extension is illegal, null and void, and of no effect.

He is also seeking to prevent her from getting a second extension.

When contacted on Monday, Llewellyn declined to comment.

Llewellyn was granted a three-year extension in July 2020. She was due to retire in September 2020 at age 60.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in announcing her tenure, had said she performed well over her 12 years in office.

Then Opposition Leader Peter Phillips had objected to the extension.

Cameron said he engaged the services of attorney-at-law Hugh Wildman to make the necessary investigations.

Wildman, who is representing Cameron, said a date is to be set for the hearing of an application for the injunction.

The attorney general is the respondent in the claim.

Cameron stated that the Jamaica Printing Service, the official publisher and keeper of the gazette, had not been able to produce any evidence of Llewellyn’s gazetted appointment to remain in office.

He said he caused Wildman to make enquiries at the Office of the Governor General to confirm whether there was any gazetted appointment of Llewellyn’s extension, but the office “has not been able to produce any such evidence of the gazetting of her appointment”.

Cameron states further that under the Constitution, the appointment of the DPP is governed by Section 96(1), which stipulates that the chief prosecutor is appointed by the GG, acting on the recommendation of the prime minister, after consultation with the leader of the Opposition.

“The absence of any evidence of a gazetted extension given to Ms Llewellyn to remain as the director of public prosecutions is a clear violation of the laws and warrants the immediate intervention of the Constitutional Court to protect the integrity of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and preservation of the Constitution,” he contended.

Cameron is calling for the governor general, prime minister, and attorney general to uphold the Constitution and the integrity of the ODPP.

He said that he wished to challenge his conviction and sentence and, therefore, has an interest in the preservation of the criminal justice system, including the integrity of the ODPP.

Cameron was convicted in 2019 of the 2012 murder of 43-year-old Barrington Davis, then deputy chief for Jamaica Post, and his friend Patricia Lamont-Barnswell.

They were abducted and fatally shot.

Cameron was sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to serve 35 years before he can become eligible for parole.

He has a pending suit in the Supreme Court seeking $35 million in damages for breaching his constitutional rights to trial within a reasonable time.

Cameron was in custody for six years before his case was tried.

Barbara Gayle