The Nassau Guardian
Man cleared of armed robbery wants police to clear his record
Although father of two Terrell Neilly was exonerated of armed robbery after almost 15 years of imprisonment, he still has not been able to regain his life.
That is because the conviction that was quashed by the Privy Council on May 10, 2012 still remains on his record.
Neilly, 41, told The Nassau Guardian that the “wrongful conviction” has limited his job options “because people look at you in a different light with a conviction for armed robbery”.
Neilly works as a mason.
Neilly said he has other convictions for drug possession and unlawfully carrying arms.
Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, those two convictions are erased after seven years.
Neilly said he was threatened with arrest when he tried to have his record cleared of the armed robbery conviction by showing an officer at the Criminal Records Office (CRO) the Privy Council decision that quashed his conviction.
According to Neilly, the officer told him that he was not interested in reading the court’s judgment.
Superintendent Paul Rolle, who is responsible for CRO, said the Privy Council would have to send the record of the disposition of the case to the office.
Neilly said the entire situation is unfair to him. He believes that the Office of the Attorney General should have advised the police about his court-directed release.
The blemished record is not the only scar that Neilly has to remind him of his arrest in relation to the January 15, 1998 armed robbery at the Comfort Zone Restaurant.
He still bears the scars from multiple gunshot wounds inflicted during his arrest at Redland Acres on January 17, 1998.
During his trial, the prosecution alleged that Neilly opened fire on police as they approached him.
However, during the trial, and to this day, Neilly said that police made up the story to justify the shooting of an unarmed man.
Neilly told The Nassau Guardian that officers opened fire on him before he put his hands up in surrender. According to Neilly, he still has shotgun pellets lodged in his body.
Neilly was released from hospital on January 27, 1998 and questioned about the armed robbery. He denied involvement and was not placed on an identification parade.
Neilly was convicted at a second trial that took place between October 4 and 18, 1999.
According to the Privy Council decision, the trial judge allowed a witness to identify Neilly in the prisoner’s dock, although he had not identified anyone during the aborted first trial. The Privy Council ruled that the judge had erred by allowing the dock identification.
Neilly said this conviction robbed him of the opportunity to see his daughters grow up. By the time he was released, they had both graduated high school.
Neilly said his daughters’ mother died shortly after he was freed. He has consulted a lawyer to see if he has any legal recourse.
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