PHILIPSBURG–The medical conditions of defendants caused delays in the hearing of two pro-forma cases by the Joint Court of Justice. The hearings of Jerry-Lee Valentino Gerardus (43) and Colin Kristensen (60) were rescheduled Thursday until October 24.
The Court of First Instance on February 24 sentenced Kristensen to seven years in prison for a large number of crimes, among them the sexual abuse of a minor child; the possession, production and distribution of child-pornography; and bribery of a police officer. The Court also ordered the execution of a three-month suspended sentence.
Former member of the Police Force of St. Maarten Jerry-Lee Valentino Gerardus was found guilty of providing Kristensen with forged and antedated police reports in exchange for airline tickets and other gifts.
Together, the two defendants were also found guilty of fencing a number of diamonds in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in September 2017. The diamonds had been looted from a jewellery store and were taken from the police station where they had been stored together with other confiscated looted items. The two men had tried to sell the jewellery, but the diamonds proved to be false.
For his crimes, Gerardus was sentenced to three years and the maximum eight-year prohibition on performing the duties of a police officer. The Prosecutor’s Office had called for a five-year ban.
Kristensen is currently detained in Curaçao, whereas Gerardus was conditionally released after he suffered cerebral haemorrhage in August 2018.
As one of the conditions for his release Gerardus had to hand over his passport to the Prosecutor’s Office. On Thursday, he called on the Court to have his passport returned to him as he needs to see a neurologist in Colombia and possibly has to undergo surgery in the South American country. The Solicitor General and the Appeals Court had no objection to the request.
For the past 15 months, Kristensen has been suffering pain in his lower body, he informed the Court via video-conferencing from Curaçao, where he was sent for diagnostics and treatment.
He was diagnosed with a herniated disc in his lower back and his condition is aggravated by the “homemade” prosthesis on his left leg. He said that whereas he would be able to obtain a better prosthesis in St. Maarten, he would require highly-specialised surgery to his spine which is not available in the Dutch Caribbean.
Attorney-at-law Shaira Bommel called for Kristensen’s return to St. Maarten after having spent the past four months in Curaçao. She said her client is not detained in the prison’s hospital ward but in a regular cell.
The Solicitor General explained that Kristensen’s transfer was part of an agreement between the Pointe Blanche prison and the detention facility in Curaçao. He advised against Kristensen’s return to St. Maarten considering the current situation in the prison here.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/88757-medical-conditions-cause-for-delay-in-appeal-cases
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