Attorneys outraged by court's demand for bail bond to be paid in cash

An order by a parish court judge yesterday that an accused man must pay his $700,000 bail bond in cash has sparked outrage in legal circles.

Some lawyers have viewed the order as outrageous, a breach of the man's constitutional rights and trampling of the rights of the poor in the society.

The case is that of 36-year-old farmer Rayon McNish, of Bellfield, St Mary, who is charged with the murder of 22-year-old Rayon Prendergast.

Prendergast was fatally shot on February 8 on the accused's farm while he was allegedly stealing bags of apples. It was reported that the accused told the police that he was afraid of the deceased who threatened him.

A committal hearing took place yesterday in the Port Maria Parish Court and McNish was committed to stand trial in the St Mary Circuit Court.

The parish judge offered McNish bail in the sum of $700,000 with surety and then ordered that the bail bond must be paid in cash.

Attorney-at-law Hugh Wildman, who is representing McNish, complained in court that the manner of payment was unconstitutional, because the law recognised land titles and property for persons to be bailed.

“There is no law to sanction that the bail must be in cash," Wildman said. The law, he said, recognised that property, including land titles, can be used to access bail.

McNish who was on $300,000 bail prior to being committed to stand trial had used a motor vehicle title to secure his release on bail when he appeared in the parish court on February 22.

Checks yesterday revealed that land titles or cash are accepted at the Supreme Court to bail accused persons.

In February Police Corporal Deon Carr, who is charged with murder, was granted bail in the sum of $1.5 million when he appeared in the Home Circuit Court. The Supreme Court Judge who granted bail said the bail bond must be paid in cash.

READ: Policeman on murder charge stuck behind bars

Wildman told The Gleaner when he asked why, the judge responded “that is the policy.”

Wildman described the “policy” as a forced interest-free loan to the government because cases take years to be disposed of and the monies are returned to the sureties with no interest.

“It is wrong, and this policy needs immediate intervention from the powers that be because an accused is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty, he emphasised.

Wildman says there needs to be an oversight body to which the Judiciary is accountable in an administrative capacity.

Carr languished in custody for 30 days after he was granted bail because his relatives and friends had difficulty finding the $1.5 million.

King's Counsel Valerie Neita Robertson described yesterday's event in the parish court as excluding people who are poor and don't have money to pay for their bail.

“It is unconstitutional and it is against the intent of the Bail Act. You are excluding people who don't have money to pay,” she said.

Senior attorney Bert Samuels said it was settled principle that the sole purpose of a bail bond was to ensure that the accused turned up for his trial. He said when such monetary orders are made then the citizen's  right to freedom prior to acquittal or conviction is grossly inhibited and, therefore, amounts to oppression.

The relatives of those persons are now compelled to find six-figure sums in cash before those accused who are presumed to be innocent can enjoy their liberty pending trial, he said.

“Is it only the rich and cash loaded accused who can now enjoy freedom pending trial?” Samuels queried.

President of the Advocates Association of Jamaica Leonard Green said “it is unusual, because if the man cannot pay the cash, it would be  tantamount to offering bail and refusing bail at the same time."

Senior attorney Anthony Williams said he did not know on what basis the judge made the decision to impose the condition that the accused should pay cash.

“I am not aware of any legal authority that permits that and it appears that the judge exceeded his or her authority," he said.

McNish is also being represented by attorneys-at-law Anthony Armstrong and Rasher Wildman.

-Barbara Gayle

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