Attorneys for Ashley Newbold bought a little time for the killer by not showing up for proceedings in the Court of Appeals last month. The case was adjourned. The judge did nothing to reprimand the errant attorneys.
Yesterday, the same attorneys pulled the same stunt, not showing up for the rescheduled court date. This time, Court of Appeals president Dame Joan Sawyer labeled the nonappearance of Kenneth Toppin and Michael Foulkes “inexcusable”. She added that, “we will not let the wheels of justice grind to a halt because of laziness.” Yet, she appears to have done just that. The case was, of course, delayed again.
Many Bahamians believe some judges and magistrates are as much a part of the problem as rogue attorneys. Some think it is precisely due to judicial “laziness” that the legal system has become so perverted. For years BahamasB2B, and many others, have been asking for an investigation into the questionable practices of Bahamian attorneys. For years those requests have fallen on deaf ears.
And once again, in this case, nothing was done to prevent this type of manipulation of the legal process from happening again. Dame Sawyer had a right and an obligation to issue warrants of arrest for the errant attorneys for Contempt of Court. But all she did was reprimand the attorneys and threaten that “next” time she would imprison the irresponsible attorneys, apparently forgetting that three strikes is for baseball, not criminal proceedings.
Bahamas Bar Association president Wayne Munroe, who was in court at the time, says he filed a complaint to the Ethics Committee when the two attorneys failed to show up for Mr. Newbold’s earlier court appearance. However, the Bar Association president failed to provide any support of his claim. Calls to the Bar Association to confirm Mr. Munroe’s claim went unanswered. Many Bahamians question whether it would matter, as the Ethics Committee of the Bar Association has proven to be grossly lacking in ethics itself.
Mr. Munroe has suggested that two civilians be appointed to a Tribunal to deal with lawyers who fail to comply with rules of the legal profession. But who would those civilians be? Unless the people selected are truly upstanding citizens, most people would have a difficult time believing the Tribunal wasn’t just another cover-up scam, like so many other “commissions” that have been set up to do nothing but whitewash the criminal conspiracies of rogue members of the Bahamian legal community.
Editor’s Note: It is no coincidence that this little delay tactic revolves around the appeal of Ashley Newbold. Frankly, we are amazed Mr. Newbold hasn’t been killed in prison, seeing as he is the only witness to the murder of Joy Cartwright. Why the “real” murderer is not in jail is another story in the corruption of our legal system.
