Man sues Government for vindicatory damages
Published:Sunday | June 5, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter
A Jamaican man who was arrested at the Norman Manley International Air-port on November 3, 2002 and forced to spend nine days in hospital while doctors examined him to ascertain if he had ingested cocaine, is suing the Government for vindicatory damages.
Although no cocaine pellets were found in his stomach, 33-year-old barber Greg Martin was charged on November 18, 2002 with possession of cocaine, dealing in cocaine and attempting to export cocaine.
Case thrown out
Martin made several court appearances and the case was thrown out in July 2004 because of insufficient evidence.
Attorneys-at-law Sean Kinghorn and Dale Staple, who are representing Martin, said that their client was seeking $3 million for vindicatory damages because Martin's constitutional rights were violated.After the hearing began last week week in the Supreme Court, Justice Bryan Sykes allowed Martin's lawyers to amend the suit to include a claim for vindicatory damages.
Kinghorn told The Sunday Gleaner last week Friday that vindicatory damages could be awarded if the agents of the State, without any justification, interfered with the rights of a normal citizen. If Justice Sykes made such an award, it would be the first time that the Jamaican courts would have made that type of award. He explained that because of the severity of the matter, no other relief or remedy could compensate Martin for the manner in which his rights were breached.
Martin was about to board a flight to England on November 3, 2002 when he was accosted by the police and told to pass his urine for testing. He complied and the police said the urine had a positive reading for cocaine.
He was handcuffed and taken to the Kingston Public Hospital and, while there, he was handcuffed to a bed for nine days. Martin said he was given laxative several times but no cocaine was found. He was x-rayed on November 11, 2002 and no cocaine was found in his body. He was discharged from the hospital the next day.
The police locked up Martin for an additional six days, as they said they were checking into the authenticity of his passport, but he was instead charged with drug-related offences.
Damages being sought
After Martin was freed of the cocaine charges, he sued the attorney general and the police who arrested and charged him, seeking damages for assault and battery, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. He is also seeking damages for aggravated and exemplary damages.
Lawyers representing the attorney general have argued that the police had reasonable and proba-ble cause to detain Martin. Martin's lawyers have submitted that from the fact that the doctors at the hospital found no cocaine pellets in Martin's body, he should not have been charged. They also pointed out that from the medical evidence, Martin should not have spent more than three days in hospital for tests to be conducted to ascertain if he had ingested cocaine pellets.
The case is to continue on June 9 in the Supreme Court.