By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
A 42-year-old schizophrenic man jailed for nearly four years without charge will have to wait until Wednesday to learn if he will be released from prison.
Alfairs Agregory Higgs’ lawyer Fred Smith revealed during a hearing before Supreme Court Justice Andrew Forbes on Friday that representatives of the Office of the Attorney General filed an affidavit on April 11, 2018, raising a number of issues related to the case.
Mr Smith said he received the files only on Wednesday and he requested an adjournment so his team could review them and give a response.
Mr Smith sought to have Mr Higgs released on bail, but Justice Forbes said the matter will be adjudicated on Wednesday.
The substantive date for the hearing of the matter is April 26.
Mr Higgs’ lawyers filed a writ of habeas corpus on his behalf last month, alleging his constitutional rights are being violated every day he is detained. On Friday, Mr Smith said in its affidavit the government contended that an order for Mr Higgs to be deported from the Bahamas was issued in 2015. He said such an order does not allow someone to be detained indefinitely.
Mr Higgs was born to Turks Islander Linda Ellen Higgs and a Bahamian man on December 2, 1975.
His father is not listed on his birth certificate, however, The Tribune has spoken with Mr Higgs’ father and withheld his name due to his profession.
Mr Higgs’ family claims he has been denied his medication since he was arrested by police for disorderly behaviour in 2015 and has been imprisoned ever since without being charged.
Relatives fear his incarceration has taken an “irreversible physical and mental toll on him”.
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