FNM MP presses issue of tossed gun case

The Nassau Guardian

FNM MP presses issue of tossed gun case

House Speaker Dr. Kendal Major yesterday dismissed a renewed call from Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn for a parliamentary select committee to be appointed to look into the actions of the Office of the Attorney General regarding the issuance of a nolle prosequi.

For months, Lightbourn has called for a committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding a nolle prosequi signed by then acting

Attorney General Jerome Fitzgerald.

The order involved George and Janice Hayles who each faced a charge of possession of a firearm and ammunition, after police said they were found with a .380 pistol and 19 live rounds for the weapon.

Allyson Maynard-Gibson represented them during their arraignment in 2010, before she became attorney general. The couple pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The discontinuation of the charges took place last year on December 28.

Fitzgerald signed the nolle because Maynard-Gibson was out of the country at the time.

At the time, Fitzgerald issued a statement saying he was satisfied that grounds existed for his decision and said he did so because it had national security implications.

As he raised the issue again yesterday, Lightbourn was silenced by Major who told him it was not the appropriate time to address the matter.

“Mr. Speaker, it seems to me that members opposite may think that this issue is going to go away by making some statement that I don’t think [was] substantiated at all,” Lightbourn said.

“On the last hearing here, Mr. Speaker, I sought to move the appointment of a select committee to investigate the circumstances and facts surrounding the entering of a nolle prosequi.”

However, Major interrupted Lightbourn and said Central and South Eleuthera MP Damian Gomez, who is the minister of state for legal affairs, had addressed the issue last week.

“The chair has determined that [it] would receive advice from the attorney general’s office, which would be the legal authority governing the speaker’s research on the matter,” Major said.

“Based on the response from the member for Central and South Eleuthera, if that can be placed in writing and tabled in this House, then the chair is obliged to remove that from the order of business. “So essentially, you have every right in debate to speak to any issue you desire as long as it’s within the rules, but at this point on the agenda it is out of order to expect your wishes to go forward.

“It has been preempted, that’s my answer, so essentially we are going to move on.”

However, Lightbourn argued that the House of Assembly was a democratic place, which had the authority to question the Office of the Attorney General’s actions regarding a nolle prosequi.

“The member for South Eleuthera made a statement without substantiating it in any way,” he said. “...I have not been given an opportunity to respond.

“There is clear authority here and if perhaps the member for South Eleuthera is not aware of it I’ll be happy to share it with him, but there is quite clear authority for this House to investigate any matter concerning a nolle issued by the attorney general.

“And therefore, I would have thought that at the minimum, Mr. Speaker, you would give me an opportunity to put forward my case without simply relying on the statement from the attorney general’s office.”

The speaker agreed that the House had the authority to investigate the matter but said the authority comes from the majority of members by vote.

“If there is a particular issue that you believe that you need redress [on], then you have an opportunity to meet with the chair to discuss the matter or receive leave from the member of the governing side,” Major said.

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