The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement Chairman Michael Pintard yesterday urged the Christie administration to amend the law to stop island administrators from presiding over serious court matters.

Mr Pintard went on to call on Prime Minister Perry Christie to remove embattled MICAL MP V Alfred Gray from his Cabinet saying the nation’s chief must send a clear message that he will not tolerate even the idea of juridical interference by a government minister.

Meanwhile, acting Local Government Minister Hope Strachan told The Tribune yesterday that no decision has been made on whether Mayaguana island administrator Zephaniah Newbold will be transferred to another jurisdiction.

Mr Pintard responded after Mr Newbold told The Tribune that he denied claims that he does not remember the alleged threat that Mr Gray made to him weeks ago.

Acting Attorney General Damian Gomez had told The Tribune that the Attorney General’s office would have opened itself up to possible legal action had it pursued a lawsuit against Mr Gray in the case involving judicial interference. At the time, Mr Gomez said Mr Newbold could not remember key information.

Mr Pintard said: “I would simply say that it is important for the media to contact the minister of state on whether his earlier statements to The Tribune were the result of advice or information he was given.

“Given his level of transparency in the past  and that he has developed a reputation for being a straight shooter, he must clarify. In my estimation, the comments would have arisen from second hand information.

“In addition, the fact that Mr Newbold is maintaining his story flies in the face of comments initially issued by the Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson. In cases where there is conflicting information, if one was to accept her argument, it is an illogical statement given the fact that it is the court that presides over conflicting information. It is precisely why this matter should have gone before the courts for its determination.

“Therefore, the FNM contends that Mr Christie still has an obligation to send the clearest possible message that he will not tolerate interference on any level. He should relieve Mr Gray as a minister in all capacities.”

Mr Pintard said that, given the Christie administration’s long track record of unfulfilled promises, pointing to escalating crime and the unemployment rate, the Prime Minister should move quickly to gain control of this situation.

He added that Mr Newbold should consider reversing the decision he made to free 19-year-old Jaquan Charlton after he sentenced him.

In March, Mr Newbold convicted and sentenced Charlton to prison for assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. He later released the teenager, alleging that Mr Gray threatened him into doing so, a claim Mr Gray has strongly denied.

On Sunday, Mr Newbold said he was unsure of what Mr Gomez meant when he spoke to The Tribune last week.

At the time, Mr Gomez said the evidence in the case did not rise to the level that had been expected given the way it unfolded in the local dailies. In his opinion, Mr Gomez said Mr Gray would have won on a no-case submission exposing the government to potential legal trouble which the administration has “no stomach for at this point”.

Mr Newbold said: “I can’t say what Gomez is getting at. I never said (I couldn’t remember). I don’t know where he got that from.”

He said: “In the conversation (with Mr Gray), by way of telephone, (he) made a statement in harsh sounding tone as if he was angry and one of the things he said is ‘if I don’t understand Family Island administration, he would make it easy for me’. I don’t know exactly what he meant by that, but I took it to be a threat. (Mr Gomez’ claim) is (therefore) not true. I don’t know what angle he’s looking at it from.”

Mr Newbold said weeks ago he told police officials the exact words he spoke to The Tribune. “I gave (them) my statement about a month now,” he said.

In response, Mr Gomez said on Sunday that Mr Newbold’s comments reinforced his statement last week, adding that he had no further comment on the matter.