The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

THE Court of Appeal yesterday adjourned the hearing of convicted drug trafficker Dwight Major until his scheduled release from a US prison in May 2016.

However, Justice Christopher Blackman said a definitive date could not be set because he and Justice Stanley John, two of three presiding judges in the matter, would no longer be sitting as judges in the appellate court.

Major’s lawyer, Keod Smith, appeared before Justices Blackman, John and Abdulai Conteh for a status hearing into Major’s appeal against a conviction and five-year sentence for conspiracy to import 1,600 kilograms of cocaine.

Justice Blackman told Mr Smith that “it’s not clear what you’re asking this court for.”

“Mr Major wishes to exercise his constitutional right to be in the jurisdiction for his appeal,” the lawyer replied. He noted that the question was “whether this court has the jurisdiction to hear the matter in his absence.”

Mr Smith claimed that his client had made a request to continue his sentence in the Bahamas.

“It was approved by the US government, but has been denied by the Bahamian government,” the lawyer added.

Justice Conteh asked Mr Smith if there was anything obstructing him from taking instructions from Major and going forward with the appeal.

Mr Smith said going forward was not the issue, but that his client, who will be released from a US prison in nearly two years, “wants to be here for that purpose.”

“I think the wishes of the appellant trumps anything else,” Justice Blackman said, believing that an adjournment was best until Major was back in the Bahamas.

Major is serving a 108-month term of imprisonment in the US having been convicted there of drug-related offences before the United States District Court of the Southern District of Florida.

On June 3, 2003, a Florida grand jury indicted Major on charges relating to conspiracy to import and attempts to import substantial amounts of cocaine and marijuana into the United States.

Two weeks later, the United States issued a warrant for Major’s arrest, which Bahamian police executed on July 19, 2003, while he was still serving time in the Bahamas.

The United States also commenced extradition proceedings, which Major vigorously contested in the Bahamas for several years while confined at Her Majesty’s Prison.

On July 30, 2004, the Bahamian courts issued an extradition warrant and three years later in November 2007, Major was sentenced on his third conviction of conspiracy to import 1,600 kilograms of cocaine with a prison term of five years. The sentence was made retroactive to October 11, 2003.

Major then made his first appearance in a US court after his extradition on April 21, 2008. On October 10, 2008, Major pleaded guilty to count one of the indictment and then on July 13, 2009, the court sentenced Major to a term of imprisonment of 108 months, and recommended that he receive credit for time served in the Bahamas while awaiting extradition.