Angry lawyer knocks justice system

A recent controversial High Court judgment made its way from the radio talk shows this past week to the Courtroom when defence attorney Grant Connell made an outburst in the Magistrate’s Court.

His client, Judy Cordice, had just been sentenced to a prison term but he said she had just spent six weeks in jail and “to send her back to prison would be abuse, it would be like crushing ripe grapes to show how strong you are,” Connell said.

{{more}}He said that his client was going to be thrown in jail for a “trivial matter” but yet a man who was convicted for rape and placed on a bond is setting a precedent to this already lawless society”.

He was referring to a judgment last week by Justice Lyle St Paul who sentenced Alonza Lewis, found guilty of raping a teenager, to keep the peace for three years with a bond of $15,000 with an alternate of five years in jail.

He said the sentence could cause the public to lose confidence in the judicial system.

“The sentence in a rape case can carry the same sentence as if one were to steal a bag of sugar from Greaves or batteries from Corea’s,” he told the Court.

Connell later told the SEARCHLIGHT that many people in the legal fraternity are whispering their dissatisfaction about what transpired but they are not letting their voices be heard.