Woman wants ‘ghost’ of dismissed ganja case laid to rest
Published:Thursday | June 9, 2022 | 12:08 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
IT HAS been eight years since the St James Parish Court dismissed a ganja case which had been brought against Tashoya Colquhoun, but the ghost of that old matter continues to follow her around up to present day, and she wants it laid to rest.
“The case has been dismissed for some time now and from what I know, it would take seven years for it to be removed from my record. I went and did a police record last year, and it was not on record, but it is still on the Internet,” Colquhoun, 37, lamented while speaking with The Gleaner on Tuesday.
The matter, which has been hampering her life, surrounds her arrest on December 3, 2012, when the police reportedly found 110 pounds of ganja at a house where she was staying at the time.
According to the court allegations, at approximately 4 p.m. on the day in question, a police officer went to a house in the Norwood community in St James to execute a search warrant. When he arrived at the house, he reportedly saw Colquhoun and engaged her in a conversation.
The officer then searched two barrels at the premises and found three plastic bags containing ganja. When questioned about the contents of the plastic bags, Colquhoun reportedly told the lawman that the ganja belonged to her mother.
Despite her denial that the ganja was hers, Colquhoun was taken into custody and subsequently arrested and charged with possession of ganja, dealing in ganja, and using premises for the storage of ganja. Her mother was not at home at the time.
Subsequent to her arrest and follow-up court appearances, the St James Parish Court dismissed the case against Colquhoun on June 12, 2014, due to want of prosecution.
“The stop order imposed against Ms Colquhoun on the 14th day of December 2012 can now be lifted and her name removed from the Immigration Watch List,” the court advised in a letter addressed to the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency on June 13, 2014, the day after the case’s dismissal.
ISSUES SECURING EMPLOYMENT
However, because the dismissal of the case was not publicised at the time, Colquhoun faced issues securing employment for a while. The spectre of her arrest is also currently affecting her efforts to apply for overseas travel.
“I have had an issue where I applied for a job in 2017 and I did not get through because of this issue. The interview went well, and I did not mention the case until after they (prospective employers) told me that I am to come in, and I thought that was something I needed to put out there,” Colquhoun recalled.
“When I did that, they told me they could not hire me because of the whole thing with the case. Some places do a background check, and it would come up that I was arrested,” she added. “But the most recent issue that I am having right now is that my fiancé is overseas and we want to get married. He spoke to a lawyer less than a month ago regarding the matter, and the lawyer advised him that it is going to be an issue because when they do the background checks, they might turn me down.”
All Colquhoun wants is for her past arrest and court history to be put to sleep and not to present persistent obstacles in her efforts to move forward with her life.
“My fiancé (is applying) for a visa for me, but he has not sent the application yet. Just in case a search is done on me, which the lawyer expressed to us that that is a possibility, I do not want that matter to be an issue,” said Colquhoun.