President gives pardon after... 28 years in prison

JOHN LEWIS, who was found guilty but insane in 1975 for killing a co-worker at a saw mill, has been granted a Presidential Pardon and released from prison after 28 years.

Lewis said he felt happy to have been finally released. “It seemed that I was entering a whole new world. The whole place was strange to me. I did not know the Hall of Justice. When I was arrested, the Hall of Justice was not here. My trial was held at the Red House,” Lewis added. Unlike pardons granted before to prisoners, Lewis’ case is totally different. His pardon, dated November 7  by President George Maxwell Richards is conditional. The pardon document states: (a) that the said John Lewis shall, every six months for a period of three years from the date thereof, report to the St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital for periodic review and evaluation by the Psychiatric Hospital Tribunal in accordance with the requirements of the Mental Health Act, Chap 28:02. (b) That the said Tribunal forward to the President each periodic report in respect of the said review and evaluation over the prescribed period.

Lewis, now 54, was released from the Port-of-Spain State Prison around 10 am on Saturday. He told Newsday yesterday that he was informed on Friday to pack his belongings to go to the Port-of-Spain State Prison. “I was told that I was going home. I was transferred from the Golden Grove Prison to Port-of-Spain. But I reached there too late to be released on Friday. I was told that I would be released on Saturday morning.” Lewis said around 9 am on Saturday, he met acting Commissioner of Prisons Herman Rougier who read the pardon document to him. Before he walked out of the prison compound, he was given $500, two shirts and two pants. Yesterday, Lewis turned up at the Port-of-Spain High Court for the hearing of his constitutional motion he filed challenging his continued detention.

Lewis recalled the events of 1975 which changed his life forever. He said he was at work when a co-worker challenged him. He said the man came towards him and smashed his head with a stone. “There was a cutlass in the truck. I just took it up and started to chop this man. I did not count how many, I just chopped.” Lewis was found guilty but insane before Justice Ulric Cross on December 16, 1975 and detained at Her Majesty’s Pleasure. Six days later, he was sent to the Carrera Island Prison where he remained until 1992 when he was transferred to the Golden Grove Prison. Over the years, Lewis said he made several requests for his case to be reviewed. He submitted requests to see the Commissioner of Prisons, but “they never got past the Superintendent.” He said he was promised a release in 1993, but the then Prisons Commissioner Michael Hercules was shot dead. That, he added, ended hopes of his early release. With each passing year, he held out hope at Independence time, but his name was never called. He said there were other prisoners like him who were released. “Some of them even laughed at me when they were leaving.” He then wrote letters to attorneys Mark Seepersad and Gerald Ramdeen who took up his case.

“I wanted someone to take up my case because I felt I had served my time already. I wanted to know if I was going to stay in prison for the rest of my life.” Lewis said there were times when he felt confident that he was going to be released. He said he had spent such a long time in jail that his father, mother and two brothers died while he was incarcerated. He had a son when he was 24 years old, but the child died in childbirth. Lewis described himself as a model prisoner although he admitted he got annoyed with fellow prisoners on several occasions. “I was normal in prison, I did not suffer from any mental disorder. I think I have been cured and I feel I am ready to take my place in society once again.” During his time in prison, Lewis said he had been attended to by doctors and psychiatrists. He said he was given a clean bill of health. He was at a loss to figure out why he has to visit the St Ann’s Hospital for the next three years.