A man who was nabbed with cocaine in Paul’s Avenue maintained that it was 1.2 grams when it was weighed in his presence, but the police put 16 grams on the charge sheet after he had a seizure at the station.
Lasana Watson, 25, of Green Hill, was proven right at the Serious Offences Court, prompting Chief Magistrate Colin John to question the discrepancy.
Watson told the magistrate that the drug amounted to 1.2 grams when it was weighed in his presence at the Criminal Investigations Department in Kingstown.
He, however, said he then had a seizure at the station and when he arrived at the Drug Squad base, in Arnos Vale, he saw 16 grams on the charge sheet.
On hearing the man’s comments, on Thursday, the prosecutor, Inspector of Police Renrick Cato asked that the matter be stood down.
He said that he would arrange for the defendant to be taken to the Criminal Investigations Department to have the drug weighed in his presence again.
When the case was recalled, Cato apologised to the court for the quantity listed on the charge sheet, saying it should have been 1.2 grams.
The chief magistrate asked what had caused the discrepancy and the prosecutor said he did not know.
Watson then pleaded guilty to the charge that on Feb. 4, at Paul’s Avenue, he had in his possession 1.2 grams of cocaine with intent to supply it to another.
Watson told the court that he smokes that drug because his “self-esteem was broken a long time ago”, adding that the cocaine was for his use.
John asked the defendant what he planned to do about it, and Watson responded, “I would just like to stop it.”
The facts of the case are that on Feb. 4, about 8:30 p.m. Corporal Ferdinand headed a party of the Special Services Unit on mobile patrol duty about Kingstown.
They met Watson among a group of men in the public road in Paul’s Avenue. He had a black one-strap bag over his shoulder.
The police became suspicious and searched Watson and the bag, which contained eight aluminium foil wrappings and EC$570 in cash in the bag.
The cash was made up of 15 $20 bills, 16 $10 bills and 22 $5 bills. The police informed Watson that they were seizing the money for further investigation.
Ferdinand opened the wrapping in Watson’s presence and found them to contain a whitish substance resembling cocaine.
The drug was also weighed in his possession and amounted to 1.2 grams. Watson was also taken to the narcotics base, and two of the wrappings were used for testing procedures.
Cato told the court that Watson had previous convictions.
He further told the court that based on the makeup of the money, that a rock of cocaine sells for EC$5 or EC$10, and that the money was found in the same bag as the cocaine, the prosecution was applying for forfeiture, believing that the money was from the sale of drugs.
However, Watson told the court that the money came from washing cars, adding that he also helped his mother pull her cart because she was “getting down in age.
“I was trying to keep myself from trouble. You can see the previous convictions I had. I am asking you, please, if you can give me a fine or suspended sentence,” said Watson who has chalked up his first drug conviction.
Asked if he was selling cocaine, Watson responded, “As I told you, I smoke.”
“So, you were going to smoke all those?” the chief magistrate asked.
“Within time,” Watson said.
“Not because someone is found with cocaine in wrappings means they were selling. Look, these are the clothes I was found in the day: my beach pants and my vest.”
After going through the sentencing guidelines, the prosecutor and court placed the value of the drug at EC$240.
After considering the aggravating and mitigating features of the offence and applying the one-third discount, the court arrived at a fine of $120.
The chief magistrate asked Watson how much he buys a rock of cocaine for. He said EC$5.
John, a retired police chief, told Watson that his rocks of cocaine seemed bigger than usual.
Watson said that as a user of cocaine, he would want to get the bigger rock.
The magistrate told Watson that while the court might be tolerant of marijuana, it had shown its hatred of cocaine.
He further said that he believed the prosecutor that the money came from cocaine.
“I also believe that you are not just a smoker. I believe you are, in fact, selling cocaine and I believe that the money came from selling cocaine,” John said.
He gave Watson one week to pay the fine or spend three months in prison.
The magistrate also ordered that the drug be destroyed and the cash forfeited to the Confiscated Assets Fund.
This is such a joke. The denomination of the bills points clearly to trade and they should have charged him $570. Why is he profiting? All this crap about tough on crime. All that charge amounted to is tax on his sales. You might as well just give him a traders license and collect your tax. SMH.
Another matter of a dirty government controlling dirty police, they cheat and lie to get convictions. Almost every conviction made of the last 21 years is probably unsafe.
Misrepresentation of the drugs found should have been grounds for dismissal