Committal hearing for Ray John and ex-partner adjourned

Embattled Superintendent of Police Ray John and his former partner Shakema Charles, who were allegedly involved in a passport scam, appeared in court on Monday for their committal hearing.

The two were freed from all of the criminal charges against them last month when Justice Tunde Bakre dismissed the charges, holding that the law does not allow for conspiracy to be tried by a judge alone.

But their victory was short-lived, as they were recharged about a week later.

With the legal process starting anew, the two appeared in the St. John’s Magistrates’ Court to determine whether their case would move to the High Court. However, it was adjourned until June 27.

John and Charles are now jointly accused of conspiring with Vincentian resident Lonzel Jones to create fake passport bio pages using unauthorized Multi-Layered Infilling Sheets.

John, with Charles’ assistance, allegedly sent the necessary documents to Jones through a friend, Lisborn Michael, from the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda.

However, police intercepted Jones and John’s nephew, Geraldo James, during a transaction involving the final documents.

The defendants, represented by Defence attorneys Hugh Marshall and Michael Archibald, maintained that they were innocent and, therefore, made two attempts to have the case dismissed.

Their no-case submission failed because the judge believed that they had to answer to the charges but the second application was a success.

Despite this, the prosecution refiled the charges against them and they therefore have to go through the entire legal process all over again.