Philipsburg:--- St. Maarten may become the center of attention as early as January 30th, 2013 if the Court of Appeals decides to follow the letter of the law and release the main suspect Meyshane Kemar Johnson (29) that is in custody for the brutal murders of United States citizens Micheal and Thelma King.
Meyshane Kemar Johnson confessed to detectives of KPSM that he was directly involved in the brutal murder of the Kings on September 19th, 2012.
However, the Prosecutor's Office under the leadership of Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos seemingly forgot about Johnson when they were preparing the summons for the three suspects to appear in court in January 2013. The prosecutor's office delivered the first summons on January 7th, 2013 at 3pm to appear in court on January 10th, 2013. This summons was given to Prison Officer Wilfred Williams who had to read the document to the suspect and have the suspect sign the summons. Meyshane Kemar Johnson signed the part where he acknowledged receiving the document just three days before he was supposed to appear in court but refused the sign the part that says he waived his rights to the seven days notification period. Because of this, the suspect (Johnson) did not appear before the court on the first scheduled pro-forma hearing on January 10th, 2013. According to Dutch criminal law, Johnson had to be summoned at least eight days before he is to appear before in courts. In cases such as these, the defense has two weeks in which they can appeal the decision of the judge which Attorney at law Brenda Brooks did. A hearing is now set for January 30th, 2013 where Brooks will show the Court of Appeals the tricks the Prosecutor's Office used in order to keep her client behind bars even though they did not follow the letter of the law.
Attorney at Law Brenda Brooks said she knew that the Prosecutor's Office was going to try another trick because it is customary for them to do so when they messed up. "I was looking out to see what they will do because they could not go after my client within the appeal period. Brooks said the Prosecutor's Office could not take that risk because they would run out of time and the suspect would have been released from pre-trial detention."
That same day after the hearing, the Prosecutor's Office claimed they repaired the damage since they claimed to have enough time left to summon Johnson before his pre-trial detention ran out. Due to the so called repair, a second summons, which was not given to the defense lawyer Attorney at law Brenda Brooks, was delivered to Johnson on January 10th, 2013 at 4:45pm to appear on January 17th, 2013. This second summons was also given to Prison Officer Wilfred Williams. The second summons made no mention of Johnson waiving his rights to the seven day notification.
On that same day January 10th, 15 minutes later a prosecutor went to the Pointe Blanche Prison at 5pm with a modified summons to the house of detention and gave it to a prison guard Dasan Claxti who already indicated to the defense that she did not tell the suspect (Johnson) that the summons he was requested to sign for receipt indicated that he was also waiving his rights. On the summons it states that the suspect agreed to waive the seven day period, which according to Attorney Brooks is not the case. Brooks said the Prosecutor Office tricked her client and even tricked the judge in the Court of First Instance when the hearing took place last Thursday. "I showed the Judge the summons that was presented to my client and I also indicated to her that the Prosecutor's office intentionally kept back relevant information from the Court as to what actually transpired on January 10th when the third summons was given to my client. I also indicated to her that I am aware of the fact that a judge can't overturn her previous decision and that the findings should be noted and a copy of the summons the prosecutor failed to make mention of should be added to the file. I have to make sure each suspect is treated in accordance with the law and this is not the first time the Prosecutor's Office used these types of tricks to fool foreigners that do not speak the Dutch language." Attorney Brooks said she knows that many people would not like what she is doing but she is bound by law to ensure that suspects get a fair trial based on the law.
Attorney General of St. Maarten Taco Stein said in an invited comment that the appeal hearing set for January 30th, 2013 is to discuss whether or not the first summons issued on January 7th, 2013 is null and void. "As Attorney General of St. Maarten I will be the one making the arguments on behalf of the prosecution. In my opinion, the Prosecutor's Office made an abnormal mistake in an abnormal case. It's regretful that the lawyer representing Johnson did not see it as mistake." When asked by SMN News about the third summons that was issued to Johnson on January 10th, 2013 where it clearly states that the suspect waived his rights, Stein said that summons is not up for discussion and that will be done during the hearing which is scheduled for April 9th and 10th, 2013. When SMN News asked the Attorney General if it is normal practice to have several summons served to a suspect for one hearing, Stein said that can happen in cases where the address or something on the previous summonses are not correct.
It should be noted that in the case of Meyshane Kemar Johnson, who confessed to murdering two innocent people while in their home, he only has one address at the moment which is the Pointe Blanche House of Detention.
Click here to view the three summons that were sent to Meyshane Kemar Johnson.