Social Share
Chief Magistrate Ian Weekes was right when he dismissed the drug charges against Ralph Joseph James since he had no jurisdiction to hear the matters.
This was the ruling of the Court of Appeal yesterday as it threw out the appeal brought by the Commissioner of Police challenging the dismissal of the Jamaican’s charges.
The court also ordered that the Crown pay $5 000 in cost to the former accused.
James, 61, a marine engineer, of No 58, Grants Avenue, Sydenham, Spanish Town, St Catherine, Jamaica, had been accused that within the limits of the island’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) established by the Marine Boundaries and Jurisdiction Act Cap 387, and within the jurisdiction of the magistrate of District “A”, he had cannabis; he had a traffickable quantity of the drug and he had it with intent to supply, on November 7, 2020. (HLE)