McNicolls removes himself

IN A surprising gesture, Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls yesterday passed the mantle to Senior Magistrate Joanne Connor to hear the extradition inquiry of Lance Small, also known as Olive Enyahooma-El. The move came following a request by  Douglas Mendes SC, one of the attorneys representing the USA, for McNicolls to excusehimself from hearing the inquiry. Mendes made it clear that the reasons for the request had nothing to do with a similar application made by Small’s attorney, Pamela Elder SC, on April 8.

Mendes claimed that his reason for the application was to give the accused every opportunity to oppose the extradition and, therefore, have no reason to complain about the outcome of the inquiry when it was over. The basis of Elder’s application on April 8 had stemmed out of concerns by her client that he would not receive a fair hearing by McNicolls, because he believed the magistrate had already made a determination in the matter. After perusing the documentary evidence that would be used in the inquiry, McNicolls had initiated the issuance of the three warrants that had been executed upon the fugitive.

Mendes had, on that day, vehemently objected to Elder’s application and the magistrate had refused to excuse himself from hearing the inquiry. Small is wanted in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where it is alleged that on May 30, 2001, he attempted to import 60 AK-47 rifles and ten Mac-10 machine guns with silencers into Trinidad, contrary to the laws of the United States. When the matter was transferred to the Four A Court, where Connor was presiding, the evidence of two witnesses was taken. Cheryl Blackman, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of the Attorney General and the arresting officer, Sgt Wendell Williams of the Port-of-Spain Interpol Bureau of Criminal Investigation, were led in evidence by attorney David West and cross-examined by Elder.

During Blackman’s testimony, Elder and Mendes argued for almost an hour about the admissibility of  the “bundle” of documents sent by the US to the AG’s office into evidence for its contents. According to Elder, under Section 19A of the Extradition Act, the documents could only be tendered into evidence for content, when the attorneys for the requesting State could prove that a treaty had been concluded between the US and Trinidad and Tobago and that an order had been passed declaring the US a foreign territory. Whipping out a legal notice from the Government Printery, Mendes insisted that Section 4:3 of the notice was conclusive evidence that there was a treaty and an order. Hearing will resume on April 19.