The Tribune

By Ava Turnquest

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

AFTER nearly four years in prison without charge, a 42-year-old schizophrenic man saw his habeas corpus application dismissed after he was granted a conditional release on $15,000 bail yesterday.

Alfairs Agregory Higgs will have to wear an ankle monitoring bracelet and undergo a psychological evaluation at Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre once he pays bail with two sureties.

He appeared before Supreme Court Justice Andrew Forbes, who determined there was no legal basis for the continuation of Mr Higgs’ habeas application, which contests the lawfulness of his detention, once bail had been granted as he would no longer be in detention.

Justice Forbes awarded legal costs to Mr Higgs, whom he suggested could now file for constitutional action against the government for unlawful arrest and false imprisonment.

Up to press time, Mr Higgs was still in custody with legal counsel reserving comment pending a full review of the court session.

Mr Higgs was born to Turks Islander Linda Ellen Higgs and a Bahamian man on December 2, 1975.

His 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.

He further claims he had previously applied for Bahamian citizenship and was approved.

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.

In his supporting affidavit, Mr Higgs claims he has been jailed since 2014; however, it has not yet been established as fact the exact period of his detention.

Last week Friday, he was not brought to court for the scheduled hearing of his application, but the matter was adjourned to allow his legal counsel an opportunity to review and respond to issues raised by the government’s affidavit.

At that hearing, legal counsel sought to have Mr Higgs released on bail, but Justice Forbes said bail would be adjudicated at yesterday’s hearing.

The substantive date for the hearing of the habeas corpus matter was April 26.

The government’s affidavit, sworn by Rashied Edgecombe, a lawyer in the Attorney General’s Office, stated Mr Higgs was a British national and was being held at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services awaiting deportation.

It referred to a “deportation/detention” order reportedly issued in December 2015, and signed by former Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell on behalf of the governor general.

However, in his affidavit, Prison Superintendent Patrick Wright stated the order was “duly served on/read” to Mr Higgs on January 1, 2015.

An attached copy of the order, bearing the January date, states Mr Higgs arrived in the country “sometime in 2013” and did not have citizenship or permanent residence. It furthered noted the Immigration Board had determined that his presence in the country would be “undesirable and not conducive to the public good.”

Mr Edgecombe outlined Mr Higgs’ incarceration history in the United States - he served some nine years for charges of aggravated sodomy, simple battery, false imprisonment, and aggravated sexual battery.

Mr Higgs’ was released from a Georgia prison on March 12, 2013 and subsequently returned to the Bahamas.

However, responding affidavits do not establish a clear timeline of his detention in the Bahamas, when he was arrested or the time his family claims he spent at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.

Mr Edgecombe confirmed Mr Higgs’ was being housed in Block F Cell 17, which he said was an area designated for persons with mental disorders.

There are six other inmates also receiving their required medical attention and monitoring, he said.

A minute paper from prison medical officer Dr Hasting Johnson, stated Mr Higgs had a psychiatric history “since the age of 13 or 14.”

In a minute paper dated March 19, Dr Johnson maintained Mr Higgs was receiving his regular psychiatric medication and was being referred for psychiatric review that week.

In another minute paper dated July 20, 2016, Dr Johnson stated Mr Higgs was seen on May 30, 2016 for a complaint that he was being beaten by other inmates.

Dr Johnson said Mr Higgs was diagnosed with soft tissue injuries, and noted he was a known schizophrenic for more than ten years.

Mr Edgecombe concluded: “That in the circumstances, should the honourable court be minded to release the subject it might be prudent to take into account his criminal history and that a full mental evaluation be conducted to assess his suitability for release into the general society.”

Yesterday, Justice Forbes said his determination of Mr Higgs’ bail application rested on three points of contention: on what premise could he be granted bail if there was no charge; whether Mr Higgs was a Bahamian; and whether the granting of bail would remove legal basis of his habeas corpus application.

He concluded that Mr Higg’s citizenship challenge could not be determined based on the available evidence.

Mr Higgs was represented by Crispin Hall and Nicholas Mitchell, while Gary Francis and Auderio Sears represented the state.

There was no court stenographer present at yesterday’s hearing.