The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe confirmed yesterday that police-related Coroner’s inquests have not yet resumed as the director of public prosecutions has yet to appoint a lawyer to marshal the cases.

However, inquests into other matters have started, according to Attorney General Ryan Pinder.

During the Office of the Prime Minister’s weekly press briefing, Mr Pinder said the Davis administration found several challenges with the Coroner’s Court when it took office.

Last year, 21 police-involved shootings were recorded, 13 of which were fatal.

The Tribune had previously reported that The Bahamas has one of the highest per capita rates of police involved killings in the world, with 11 recorded in 2017, 2018 and 2020.

In January, a police officer shot and killed a Royal Bahamas Defence Force officer who allegedly “charged” at him and tried to disarm him.

Earlier this month, a man wearing a bulletproof vest was shot dead by police. The RBPF said the shooting took place after officers responded to an armed robbery after 1am in the area of Delancy Street. Police said the man produced a firearm, prompting officers to open fire.

A backlog of Coroner’s Court inquests into police involved shootings has caused concern. The hearings were initially delayed because of COVID-19 in 2020. Later, former Coroner Jeanine Weech-Gomez was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice, causing further delays as officials waited to replace her. Magistrate Kara Turnquest-Deveaux was named acting coroner in September 2021.

“You’ve seen the return of coroner’s inquests,” Mr Pinder said in response to a question yesterday. “Now with respect to the Coroner’s Court, certainly we met a lot of challenges that have been there for a long time and we’re working through those and it’s not just specific to the Coroner’s Court.

“You would have heard debate on the court bills yesterday and you would have heard a number of the members of the opposition make the point and rightfully so. It’s not a new point. It didn’t just happen overnight, but one, the state of facilities of the courts and, two, if we’re adjusting the thresholds and the jurisdictions between the Supreme Court and the Magistrates Courts. Do we have the capacity to do that and I could assure you that we have been working hand-in-hand with the chief justice and the judiciary of which the courts fall under his mandate in order to ensure both one, the coroner’s court is working functionally and also that all of the courts are working properly.

“These bIlls yesterday look to cause for the administration of justice in our courts to be more efficient and more effective as best we can and we will continue doing that whether it be modifications to the law or whether we do it as we described a number of times creating specialty courts that would help for the more expedient and proper administration of justice because at the end of the day much of what we do falls on how fast we can get matters to court, trials conducted and decisions handed down and that has a reciprocal affect on a lot of things that we do so we are working hand-in-hand on that.”

Asked whether it was realistic for the Coroner’s Court to resolve its backlog in a timely fashion, Mr Pinder said he was hopeful, but many factors could impact this.

“I hope (it’s) rather realistic. Now it’s not just a one-issue deal that caused this. So, you have issues such as timely ballistics reports. You have issues such as DNA evidence and getting DNA evidence back in a timely fashion or to run these types of prosecutions and to be able to have the evidence in a frame work and all of those elements, not just the courts add to that and so we’re working on all of those matters simultaneously,” Mr Pinder said yesterday.