Former Education Minister Ruel Reid and three co-accused lose another bid to end corruption trial

The Supreme Court has rejected a renewed bid by former Education Minister Ruel Reid and three co-accused to end their corruption trial, saying their challenge had “no prospect of success real or imagined”.

“We find also that their intended case is unmeritorious,” said Justices David Batts, Dale Palmer and Tara Carr in a 10-page judgment on Friday, refusing permission for the four to commence a claim for judicial review against a ruling by Parish Court Judge Sanchia Burrell. The matter was heard on February 3.

A single judge of the Supreme Court rejected a similar application in January but the four renewed their bid before the Full Court.

Reid, his wife Sharen Reid, their daughter Sharelle Reid, and former Caribbean Maritime University President Fritz Pinnock sought to challenge the judge's decision that an Order for Indictment was defective becuse it onlye named Reid and Pinnock and not all five accused persons.

The fifth accused, Jamaica Labour Party Councillor Kim Brown Lawrence, was not a party to the Supreme Court action.

An indictment is a formal written document in which a prosecutor sets out criminal charges against an accused.

The applicants contended that the alleged defect rendered the entire trial, which began in October last year, nullity and that the indictment “must be treated as if it never existed.”

The panel held that the intended claim was “made on a false premise” and ruled that the Parish Court judge had acted within her statutory authority.

“She has not exceeded her statutory power and therefore has not acted illegally or in excess of jurisdiction,” the court found.

The judges stressed that judicial review addresses illegality, irrationality and procedural impropriety, and is not a mechanism to correct alleged errors of law by a court acting within its jurisdiction.

“To put the point in classical terms a judge, when acting within jurisdiction to make a decision of law, is entitled to be right or wrong on that. A court of judicial review will not enquire into its correctness,” the judgment stated.

The court also ruled that the applicants had an alternative remedy by way of appeal, adding that the applicants have been before the court since 2019 and the matter should be allowed to be ventilated.

“It is a case that has attracted great public attention as it involves allegations which impact directly the public purse and public trust. In these circumstances it is in the public interest that the trial proceeds. It ought not to be interrupted in this way,” the panel said.

On the substantive issue, the judges concluded there was “nothing implicit or express” in the relevant statutory provisions requiring that, where multiple accused are before the court on several Informations, the Order for Indictment for each must be endorsed on the specific Information relative to that accused.

“It may be advisable, or an admirable practice, but it is not required by the legislation,” the court ruled.

The judges noted that when asked what prejudice had been suffered, counsel for the applicants “offered none.” “There could not be prejudice,” the judgment said.

Reid, Sharon Reid, Sharelle Reid, Pinnock and Brown Lawrence are accused of participating in a scheme to defraud the education ministry and the Caribbean Maritime University of more than $25 million. They were charged in 2019.

The trial is expected to continue in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court next week.

Reid and the other three applicants were represented by attorneys Hugh Wildman, Carolyn Chuck, Shannon Clarke and Shamar Bryan instructed by Hugh Wildman and Company.

The respondents were the parish court judge and Clerk of Courts Jewel Hogarth. They were represented by Deputy Solicitor General Lisa White, and Janoi Pinnock, from the Attorney General's Chambers.

The Financial Investigations Division, which probe the case, appeared in the matter as an interested party.

Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.