Today Newspaper St. Maarten

Prosecution inadmissible in old case

GREAT BAY – Marc Kevin O. was rather surprised when he received a summons to appear in court back in June. Yesterday he left the courtroom with a sigh of relief after Judge Tamara Tijhuis ended the case before it began by declaring the public prosecutor inadmissible.
The charges go back to August 27, 2010, almost two years ago. On that day the defendant attacked the car of a man with a pick axe. More details were not revealed about the incident itself.
The defendant’s attorney mr. Cor Merx said that his client had reported voluntarily to the police on the day of the incident and that he had paid for the damages he had caused within ten days. “The prosecutor’s office told him that he would not be prosecuted if he paid for the damages,” mr. Merx said. He also said that it is not reasonable to still prosecute his client after such a long time.
Prosecutor Dounia Benammar said that her office was not aware that the defendant had paid for the damages. “If we had known this we would probably have come to a different conclusion, she said. “What should the consequences be? Declaring the prosecution inadmissible is a step too far, but I will seriously take these circumstances into account in my demand.”
Judge Tijhuis took some time to consider the case and concluded in the end that the defendant’s call on the principle of trust should be honored. “There is no reason to assume that the prosecutor’s office did not promise that the defendant would not be prosecuted if he paid the damages,” she said. “So in this case I declare the prosecution inadmissible. Nothing happened for almost two years while the defendant stuck to his side of the agreement.”