Where is Lance Small?

WANTED fugitive Lance Small is still in Trinidad, but his whereabouts caused some anxiety for his team of lawyers yesterday. Responding to yesterday’s Newsday exclusive “four US Marshals here for Lance Small,” Pamela Elder SC went before the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday and expressed concern for her client’s whereabouts on the eve of the hearing of an application for a writ of habeas corpus. Newsday reported that four United States Marshals were in Trinidad to escort Small to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to face firearm-related charges. When the habeas corpus matter was called before Justice Rajendra Narine in the Port-of-Spain Fourth Civil Court, Elder referred to the Newsday article and asked, “where is Mr Lance Small?” She continued, “I am concerned that he may be in transit while this matter is pending.” Dana Seetahal, who is one of the attorneys representing the Commiss-ioner of Prisons, said she too had seen the article, but knew nothing of the presence of US Marshals in the country. She said she was a bit concerned that Small could have been taken away while the matter was pending, saying this had happened once before — ten years ago when Glenn Ashby was hanged at the Port-of-Spain State Prison while his petition for a stay was pending before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Justice Narine then asked, “Miss Seetahal, can you give an undertaking that the wanted fugitive will not be removed from the jurisdiction pending the determination of this matter?” Seetahal gave the undertaking, but Elder was concerned that Small could have been in transit to the United States. Seetahal said her instructions were that Small was still in Trinidad. She said that leading attorney Douglas Mendes SC was out of the country. The judge asked for written submissions to be forwarded to the court so he can expedite the case. It was then adjourned to October 14. Hours later, Elder told Newsday that the Deputy Commissioner of Prisons had confirmed that Small, also called Olive Enyahooma-El, was still detained at the Maximum Security Prison at Golden Grove, Arouca. Elder said neither she nor members of her legal team had seen Small yesterday, but promised that one of them will visit the prison today. However, when contacted, Commissioner of Prisons Carlo Mc Honey told Newsday that he was not certain that Small was still in the custody of the prison, or whether the police had gone with the fugitive.

But national security sources confirmed that Small was still in the prison under ‘‘tight security.’’ Meanwhile, the private jet which arrived in Trinidad to take Small to Florida returned to the United States. However, the US Marshals are monitoring the hearing to determine how long they should remain in Trinidad. The Marshals arrived in Trinidad in their private jet after Attorney General John Jeremie signed the order for Small’s extradition to Florida to face charges relating to conspiracy to possess 60 AK-47 rifles, ten MAC-10 weapons and ten silencers. On September 21, Senior Magistrate Joanne Connor ordered that Small be extradited to the United States to face the grand jury charges. However, under the Extradition (Commonwealth and Foreign Territories) Act, the magistrate gave Small 15 days in which to apply for a writ of habeas corpus. That 15-day period ended at midnight on Tuesday night. Attorneys representing Small filed the application for a writ of habeas corpus in the Port-of-Spain High Court Registry late on Monday afternoon. The ex-parte application was listed for hearing on Tuesday, but was put to be heard yesterday morning.