Jamaican judge gets death threats
Published:Wednesday | November 20, 2019 | 12:21 AM
Jamaican judge Paul Harrison has reported receiving death threats in relation to his presiding over the trial of former Turks and Caicos Islands ex-Premier Michael Misick and others who are on corruption charges.
Harrison told the court that he had been informed of the threats by Jamaican and TCI officials, the Turks and Caicos Weekly News reported on Monday.
“I do not regard the defendants or anyone concerned with their legal representation as being concerned with any such matters, and I will see to it that the trial continues, and that it will be a fair trial to all, based on the evidence heard in this court,” Harrison is reported as having told the court. “Nothing extraneous to such evidence will be brought to bear in my consideration of this case.”
The 82-year-old judge is the father of former Jamaican Contractor General Dirk Harrison.
Attorney-at-law Reginald Armour also revealed on Monday that his client, Misick, would no longer take the witness stand.
Misick’s party is alleged to have received US$13.5 million over seven years for “electoral purposes” and the prosecution said that he spent much of the money on himself, including US$23,000 given to his wardrobe stylist; US$110,000 for a boat charter for Misick’s then-wife, Hollywood actress LisaRaye McCoy, and nine of her friends; and a further US$150,000 apparently debited for furnishings in the newly built Misick mansion.
The allegations followed a commission of inquiry initiated by the British government in 2008 with much of the allegations involving transactions with foreign developers seeking to build resorts during a period of unprecedented investment.