The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

TWO Grand Bahama lawyers have accused the Department of Public Prosecutions’ Grand Bahama office of allowing criminal cases to stall, saying staff shortages are fuelling repeated adjournments, delaying trials and forcing some matters to be set as far away as 2032.

The complaints erupted in the Grand Bahama’s Magistrate’s Court during criminal proceedings before Magistrate Charlton Smith, including a voluntary bill of indictment hearing in an attempted murder case.Attorney Ernie Wallace told the court the delays had begun to choke the criminal justice system on the island.

"The Office of the DPP is not functioning: it needs upgrading and to be improved,” he said.Mr Wallace said criminal matters in Grand Bahama are beginning to "bottleneck."

"I have a case that cannot come up to trial until 2032,” he said. 

“That is a very long time - six years, and I am almost 73 years old."He suggested that, given his age, he may not live to see the case tried.

"They need to improve the system to ensure that matters are dealt with on time,” he said."We have two full criminal courts. The DPP should have five or six active DPP staff to deal with it.

”Attorney Parkco Deal backed Mr Wallace’s concerns, saying delays in criminal matters have long frustrated defence attorneys in Grand Bahama.

"This had been a longstanding issue of defence counsels when we come to court," he said.

Mr Deal said attorneys have written letters raising concerns, but nothing has changed. He suggested defence counsel may need to unite and send further correspondence to the relevant authorities.

Magistrate Smith encouraged the attorneys to press their concerns in writing or through the press so they could be heard and addressed.The comments came as Mr Deal appeared for Travaughn Hanna and Raymond Pennington, who are charged with Tyler Knowles in an attempted murder matter that had been scheduled for a voluntary bill of indictment hearing on Monday.

The prosecution requested an adjournment until August 31, citing the need for more time.The prosecutor told Magistrate Smith that the voluntary bill of indictment was ready but that an anonymous witness file still needed to be completed.Hanna is also separately charged with procurement. That matter was also adjourned to August 31.

Cordell Frazier, director of the Department of Public Prosecutions, disputed suggestions that the Grand Bahama office was not operating, saying the complaints appeared to relate to the service of voluntary bills of indictment."The office is functioning and prosecuting matters," Ms Frazier said. “The staff is small due to transfer of an officer upon request and another going into private practice.”

In December 2025, Pennington, 22, Knowles, 21, and Hanna were charged with attempted murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.Prosecutors allege that on December 13, 2025, in Grand Bahama, the accused, while acting together, attempted to cause the death of a 19-year-old man.

They further allege that on the same date and at the same location, the men possessed a firearm with intent to endanger the life of the virtual complainant.

The charges stem from a shooting incident on Drumfish Street in the Caravel Beach area.At their initial court appearance, Pennington was represented by Mr Deal, while Knowles was unrepresented. Neither defendant was required to enter a plea.The accused were remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services, and the matter was adjourned to March 30, 2026.