PHILIPSBURG--The Court of First Instance on Wednesday denied a request for conditional release of an inmate at the Pointe Blanche prison under the new Criminal Code that came into effect on June 1.
The new law also includes changes to the rules concerning early release, to which a convict is entitled after spending two-thirds of his or her prison sentence of one year or longer.
Under the previous Criminal Code conditional release was considered a favour to be granted by the Minister of Justice to convicts with exemplary behaviour within the prison’s confines. This was changed under the new law, which gives inmates the right to conditional release, unless there are reasons not to grant it.
Attorney-at-law Shaira Bommel had claimed during last week’s hearing of this case that the Ministry of Justice had not changed its policy according to the new law and still was using the old criteria for early release, among which is good behaviour.
According to Bommel, her client Rignald Richardson (34) would be entitled to conditional release as per June 1, but the request for his early release was denied because there had been several incidents concerning his behaviour in prison.
Richardson was a member of the notorious “Scary Movie” gang that wreaked havoc in 2005, robbing a number of casinos, jewellery stores and other businesses. For his role in these crimes, Richardson was sentenced in 2005 to five years and four months. He was released in March 2009.
He was sentenced to seven years on February 24, 2010, for having committed three violent thefts in November 2009. He was found guilty of having taken part in raids on security guards at Ruby Labega School and St. Dominic High School and at the Shell gas station on L.B. Scott Road.
Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson decided on June 12 to postpone Richardson’s conditional release for the duration of six months. This decision was based on recommendations by the Central Board of Probation, as there had been several incidents during Richardson’s detention since November 16, 2009.
He was found in possession of a quantity of marijuana on May 26, 2013. He disobeyed a prison guard’s order on October 27, 2013, and was found in possession of “illegal goods,” which proved to be cigars, on March 19, 2015.
According to regular procedure, candidates for conditional release are tested for drugs. Richardson’s urine also was tested for illegal substances, but a sample given on March 18 proved unfit for testing. However, he declined to provide another sample the next day.
Solicitor-General Taco Stein said during the hearing of this case that the Probation Board had found several grounds to turn down the convict’s request, among which were possession of illegal goods, refusal to undergo a drug test and refusal to obey orders from prison guards.
Therefore, the Parole Board’s advice was not incomprehensible and the Minister’s decision to postpone the defendant’s conditional release by six months not incorrect, the Solicitor-General concluded.
Weighing all aspects of the case, the Court arrived at the same conclusion.
