Former Senator John Bostwick and his mother, Janet Bostwick, outside court yesterday. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
By LAMECH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
ljohnson@tribunemedia.net
A MAGISTRATE yesterday said he might discharge former Senator John Bostwick Jr of an ammunition charge if the prosecution fails to proceed with trial at the next hearing in nine weeks time.
The case was expected to begin before Magistrate Andrew Forbes yesterday since being adjourned on two occasions following Bostwick’s arraignment nearly a year ago concerning the alleged possession of ten live rounds of .22 ammunition that were found on May 17, 2014.
On the day in question, airport security allegedly discovered a quantity of ammunition in his luggage during a routine check while in the domestic section of the Grand Bahama International Airport.
An x-ray machine security officer noticed a suspicious object in the bag allegedly carried by the 42-year-old lawyer and alerted the police at the airport. The officers checked the bag. It was claimed that it contained ammunition.
The then-senator was taken into custody and flown to Nassau where he was held at the Central Detective Unit.
His trial was set for September 2014, but was adjourned to last December on the request of prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Office. At the next hearing, the magistrate was on leave and the matter was adjourned to April 7.
Yesterday, the magistrate inquired from Bostwick Jr’s lawyer, Elliot Lockhart, QC, as to whether the Crown had supplied the defence with documents and video footage as requested at a previous hearing.
“That has not been handed over,” Mr Lockhart said.
He added: “This would be the third hearing and there aren’t any witnesses present.”
Magistrate Forbes asked the lawyer if he had checked with the police prosecutions office and Mr Lockhart said he had done so on the previous occasions. The magistrate also noted the absence of prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Office who were initially handling matter.
Police prosecutor Supt Ercell Dorsett explained that “the first time I heard about a video (was) when I had (a) conversation with Mr Lockhart this morning (Tuesday).”
He further noted that all of the witnesses in the case, with the exception of one, were based in Freeport, Grand Bahama and were unable to make reservations in time for the hearing despite being informed days prior.
The firearms examiner was present for trial. However, Supt Dorsett noted the absence of a stenographer for the matter.
Magistrate Forbes adjourned the matter for 30 minutes to make inquiries with the Court Reporting Unit. Upon return to the courtroom, the magistrate said he was informed that a number of the court reporters had been assigned to judges in the Supreme Court given the recent addition of criminal judges now hearing matters.
“I’m proposing a final adjournment to June 8. The prosecution needs to have themselves ready to go,” the magistrate said, adding that if they did not do so, he would have proceeded with a discharge.
Bostwick, meanwhile, remains on $9,000 bail and returns to court on June 8.
Mr Lockhart and John Bostwick’s father, Henry Bostwick, QC, have both reserved comment on the proceedings until then.
In view of the allegations against him, John Bostwick was fired from the Senate by Free National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis last May after he refused to resign.
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