A city magistrate yesterday dismissed a charge of cannabis possession against Nigel Duke, a caretaker who had been charged along with his common-law wife, in June.
The charge against Duke and his wife, Sharda Muhammed stated that on June 15, at Nutmeg Street, North Ruimveldt, they were in possession of 2.738 kilogrammes of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
Cheers of joy rocked the court room as Duke was deemed not guilty of cannabis possession by Magistrate Judy Latchman. As the charge against Duke was dismissed, Muhammed began to cheer and Duke, almost falling to the ground and near to tears yelled, “Yes, yes, and thank you God”, causing the magistrate to smile as she requested that he control his emotions.
Prior to the ruling, Magistrate Latchman amended the charge to read that the narcotics was found in South Ruimveldt and not North Ruimveldt as witnesses would have testified. This change was made given the fact that the Magistrate, along with the prosecution, the defendant and his attorney Melvin Duke visited Nutmeg Street, North Ruimveldt, as was mentioned in the charge and discovered that the location was actually in South Ruimveldt. This decision was also based on testimony presented by one of the prosecution witnesses, when describing the location.
Magistrate Latchman further stated that although there was evidence that the defendant had knowledge of the drugs, there was no evidence to show that he had control or possession of the drug. It was on these grounds that the charge against Duke was dismissed.
The charge against Muhammed was dismissed on October 5, after the prosecution had stated that a prima facie case had not been made out against her. The court heard that the only evidence against Muhammed was the fact that she had gone to the location to deliver food to Duke.