St Catherine businesswoman freed of ganja charges

St Catherine businesswoman Roxanne Ewart was yesterday freed of ganja charges because of a major discrepancy between what was allegedly recovered and what was tested at the government's forensic laboratory.

The discrepancy was revealed when attorney-at-law Richard Lynch, who was representing Ewart, cross-examined the main witness for the prosecution.

During cross-examination, the witness admitted that there were items in the exhibits that were not part of the original seizure, and no explanation was given for the additional items.

The additional items were coffee roaster bags.

Following the revelation in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court, Lynch objected to the exhibits being tendered into evidence.

The parish judge upheld Lynch's objections and ruled that the exhibits could not be tendered into evidence.

Ewart, 40, of Linstead, was arrested and charged in April 2021 after she was accused of shipping through DHL products laced with ganja.

It was reported that the products were candles.

There were also inconsistencies in the prosecution's case as to how the recovered parcels were labelled and stored.

After the Crown closed its case, Lynch then made an application for the case to be dismissed on the basis that there was too much uncertainty regarding the parcels and how they were handled while in the custody of the police.

The prosecutor agreed with Lynch's submissions and the judge freed Ewart.

- Barbara Gayle

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