PHILIPSBURG–Former Member of Parliament (MP) Romain Laville (38) will be learning his fate concerning his appeal against his sentence for the illegal possession of a firearm with ammunition on July 11, the Joint Court of Justice announced Tuesday via video-conference from Curaçao.
The Court of Appeals heard the case on June 8, but did not immediately announce a date on which it would present a decision.
On August 24, 2016, the Court of First Instance sentenced Laville to a suspended prison sentence of one month, on two years’ probation, for the illegal possession of a firearm with ammunition. He was acquitted of two counts of threats.
On appeal, he was only charged with the illegal possession of a Beretta firearm with 137 pieces of ammunition, between January 1, 2013 and March 26, 2015.
The Solicitor-General considered the illegal firearm possession charge proven, stating that Laville had been entitled to carry a gun only in 2012.
The Solicitor-General called for five months suspended, on two years’ probation, with 120 hours of community service, and confiscation of the firearm and ammunition.
Laville, who confirmed he had had a firearm since August 2012, said he should have been acquitted. Laville said he had applied for a new permit with the Minister of Justice, but had not been successful in obtaining one to date.
Laville, who contested the September 26, 2016, election on the United St. Maarten Party’s (US Party’s) slate, was held in custody for one day.
According Laville’s attorney Shaira Bommel, the Prosecutor’s case against her client should be declared inadmissible. She claimed her client had followed procedures and had been in possession of a valid permit for a weapon.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/67033-joint-court-to-present-decision-in-romain-laville-s-appeal-july-11
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