Lawyer to seek release of policeman in Donna-Lee Donaldson case

A habeas corpus application is to be made in court today for police constable Noel Maitland, the boyfriend of missing social media personality Donna-Lee Donaldson.

“We have not heard anything from the police and so I have sent one of my juniors to argue a habeas corpus application before the court this afternoon,” Maitland's attorney Christopher Townsend told The Gleaner today.

Maitland has been in custody since Wednesday.

Habeas corpus is a recourse of action in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court orders the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, to bring the individual to court, to determine whether the detention is lawful.

Townsend complained that there has been no word from the police regarding an expected question-and-answer session.

And he also bemoaned that the policeman's New Kingston apartment has been the subject of several searches by the police.

“It could have been a third or a fourth, we really don't know, we have lost count. But I know there was a search on his apartment yesterday (Thursday)”, Townsend said

Donaldson was reported missing by her mother Sophia Lugg on July 13.

Maitland was arrested on Wednesday, July 27 on Duke Street in Kingston.

At the time, Deputy Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey said that there was adequate evidence to link the policeman to Donaldson's disappearance.

- Andre Williams

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.