Magistrate blanks guilty plea

A SENIOR magistrate at the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Fourth Court yesterday refused to accept the guilty plea to possession of drugs and ammunition by a teenager, because the mitigation plea made by his attorney sounded “very much like a not guilty plea.”

Senior Magistrate Lianne Lee Kim told attorney Patrick Godson Phillips that she could not justifiably accept a guilty plea from his client Richard St Hilaire, because “knowledge does not mean possession.”  This was in response to Phillips’ mitigation plea in which he stated that his client was aware of the presence of the drugs and ammunition in the vehicle he was driving, but that they did not belong to him. The 16-year-old Mucurapo Senior Comprehensive School student was arrested and charged on August 31 with possession of 72.3 grammes of marijuana and three rounds of ammunition and driving without a permit and insurance for the vehicle. Lee Kim, however, told Phillips that “Young Mr St Hilaire will not get the benefit of your application,” changed the teen’s plea to not guilty and transferred the matter to the Four B Court.