Murder convict files suit against any further extension for DPP

Double murder convict Mervin Cameron has filed a suit in the Supreme Court seeking an order to bar the Government from extending the appointment of Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn, KC for a second time.

Cameron stated in his affidavit today that in the course of inquiring if a purported second extension was gazetted, he discovered that Llewellyn's first extension to remain in office as DPP beyond the age of 60 was not gazetted.

He is seeking a declaration that in the absence of a gazetted appointment for Llewellyn to remain in office, it renders her office vacant.

He is also seeking a declaration that the purported extension is illegal, null and void and of no effect.

He is also seeking an order to prevent her from getting a second extension.

Llewellyn was granted a three-year- extension in July 2020 as she was due to retire in September 2020 at age 60. 

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in announcing her tenure, had said she performed well over her 12 years in office.

Then Opposition Leader Peter Phillips had objected to the extension.

Cameron said he engaged the services of attorney-at-law Hugh Wildman to make the necessary investigations.

Wildman, who is representing Cameron, said a date is to be set for the hearing of an application for the injunction.

The Attorney General is the respondent in the claim.

Cameron stated that the Jamaica Printing Service, which is the official publisher and keeper of the gazette, had not been able to produce any evidence of Llewellyn's gazetted appointment to remain in office.

He said he caused Wildman to make inquiries at the Office of the Governor General to confirm whether there was any gazetted appointment of Llewellyn's extension but the office of the GG “has not been able to produce any such evidence of the gazetting of her appointment.”

Cameron states further that under the Constitution of Jamaica, the appointment of the DPP is governed by section 96(1) which stipulates that the DPP is appointed by the GG, acting on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition.

“The absence of any evidence of a gazetted extension given to Ms Llewellyn to remain as the Director of Public Prosecutions is a clear violation of the laws and warrants the immediate intervention of the Constitutional Court to protect the integrity of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and preservation of the Constitution,” he is contending.

Cameron is calling for the Governor General, the Prime Minister and the Attorney General to uphold the Constitution and the integrity of the ODPP.

He said as an inmate, he wishes to challenge his conviction and sentence and therefore he has an interest in the preservation of the criminal justice system, including the integrity of the ODPP.

Cameron was convicted in 2019 of the 2012 murder of 43-year-old Barrington Davis, then deputy chief for Jamaica Post, and his friend Patricia Lamont-Barnswell.

They were kidnapped and fatally shot.

Cameron was sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to serve 35 years before he can be eligible for parole.

A suit is pending in the Supreme Court in which Cameron has sued the government seeking $35 million in damages for breaching his constitutional rights to trial within a reasonable time.

He was in custody for six years before his case was tried.

When contacted, Llewellyn declined to comment.

- Barbara Gayle

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