The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Environment Minister Kenred Dorsett was formally arraigned before a Supreme Court judge on Friday charged with using his former ministerial position to extort and solicit $120,000 in bribes from Jonathan Ash.

Dorsett stood before Justice Bernard Turner faced with the nine criminal charges he was initially arraigned for in July: a single count of misconduct in public office and four counts each of extortion and bribery.

The allegations concern the purported exchange of funds in connection with work done by a heavy equipment operator to move debris from the New Providence landfill following a massive fire at the site in March.

It is alleged that Dorsett, while a public official between March 1 and May 9 of this year, demanded and obtained two payments of $10,000 and two payments of $50,000 from Mr Ash knowing he was not lawfully authorized to make the demand. It is also alleged that he, in his previous capacity between the same period at the landfill, "without lawful authority or reasonable excuse", solicited the amounts from Mr Ash "on your account of abstaining from performance or exercise of your asserted power as a minister of environment 'to stop' Jonathan Ash from working at the said sanitary landfill."

It was finally alleged that Dorsett wilfully misconducted himself as a public officer without lawful authority.

He pleaded not guilty to all of the charges read to him on Friday.

Before the adjournment, Damian Gomez, QC, Dorsett's attorney, submitted that the defence is unable to produce an effective notice of alibi because there is no date between March 1 and May 9 when the acts were alleged to have occurred.

That issue had previously been raised by Wayne Munroe, QC, on September 1, when Dorsett had appeared in the Magistrate's Court before Magistrate Samuel McKinney for a status hearing.

At the time, Mr Munroe argued that the alleged acts occurred between March 1 and May 9, or a total of 70 days, but said the details provided were not specific to day, time, or location. He further pointed out at the time that the charges only indicate that the alleged acts occurred on the island of New Providence.

Following that argument, Magistrate McKinney explained that Dorsett had 21 days in which to present an alibi or a witness.

After hearing similar submissions from Mr Gomez during Friday's proceedings, Justice Turner transferred the matter to Justice Carolita Bethel's court and adjourned the matter to October 13 for trial. Justice Bethel, as trial judge, will thus consider the defence's submissions concerning the notice of alibi.