Cellblock horror

A man who says he was falsely arrested has claimed in a lawsuit that he contracted a sexually transmitted infection after being assaulted inside a police lockup.

The assault, which lasted approximately 30 minutes, happened in 2014 after John Brown* was taken into custody, placed in a cell and ordered by cops to remove his clothes, the lawsuit claimed.

He was attacked later that day by two detainees who were placed in his cell by cops, according to the lawsuit seen by The Sunday Gleaner.

It alleged that during the assault, Brown cried out for assistance from the police officers, who he said were near the cell area, “but no one came to his aid”.

When it was over, the detainees knocked on the grille doors and the cop who placed them in the cell came and removed them, the lawsuit claimed.

It detailed how he fell into a “deep depression” after the incident.

“Made a mess of me”

“Me feel like me a mad. When me say mad, me mean frustration. It made a mess of me,” he said during an interview with The Sunday Gleaner last Wednesday.

The criminal charges for which Brown was arrested were dropped after the director of public prosecutions (DPP) entered a nolle prosequi in 2019, court records revealed.

“In exercise of the powers conferred upon me by virtue of the provisions of Section 94 of the Constitution, Section 4 of the Criminal Justice (Administration) Act, … I hereby inform you that the Crown does not intend to continue the proceedings against the accused [name redacted] … ,” read a notation on the case file signed by then DPP Paula Llewellyn.

The DPP noted, however, that the case against Brown could start over “on the complainant [name redacted] being fit to give evidence”.

Brown, who has maintained his innocence, filed an application in 2023 to have the criminal charges re-listed in court so “they can finally be determined”, a section of the document read.

His lawsuit was filed by attorneys Sasheeka Richards and John Clarke in November 2020, naming the cop who arrested him and the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) as the defendants.

Marred by delays

But it has been marred by delays spanning more than three years, Richards told The Sunday Gleaner on Friday.

The AGC – the principal legal adviser to the Government – did not file a defence within the timeframe stipulated by court rules, though it acknowledged service on May 18, 2021, court records show.

However, in June 2021, the AGC filed documents in court signalling its intention to challenge the lawsuit. Among them was an application for an extension of time to file its defence.

Brown’s attorneys countered by filing an application asking the Supreme Court to enter a default judgment, a move that would end the lawsuit in his favour.

Both applications were argued before a judge, but a decision has not been delivered to date and there has been no explanation for the delay.

“The matter was last listed for February 24, 2023 for the judge to give her ruling after already hearing the applications. However, the judge did not appear on the [Zoom] platform,” Richards told The Sunday Gleaner on Friday.

“We have been awaiting the judge’s ruling on our application for default judgment since February 24, 2023.”

The attorney said she has exhausted all options to have the matter re-listed, but has been unsuccessful to date.

Richards said writing to Chief Justice Bryan Sykes and visiting the secretary to the Supreme Court registrar twice last year also did not help.

Amid the long wait for his day in court, Brown indicated that the emotional trauma from his ordeal still lingers.

He declined to discuss it.

Finding employment, he said, has been extremely difficult because the criminal charges still linger over his head.

*Name changed to protect identity.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com