A CONVICT seeking to have his six-month prison sentence set aside on the grounds that the order for indictment setting out the charge against him was not signed by the resident magistrate when he pleaded, has been offered bail in the sum of $100,000.
He is Jeremiah Francis, 37, cane cutter and mason of Winchester, St. Thomas. He was sentenced on February 25 on a wounding charge.
Attorney-at-law Oswest Senior-Smith made the bail application before Mr. Justice Seymour Panton in chambers at the Court of Appeal.
PROCEEDINGS PREJUDICED CASE
Francis is contending in his affidavit that he was severely prejudiced by the proceedings in the Morant Bay Resident Magistrate's Court. He had pleaded guilty with explanation before Resident Magistrate Sonia Bertram Linton.
Shortly after he was sentenced, attorney-at-law Senior Smith discovered that the resident magistrate did not sign the order for an indictment in the case. He applied to the judge to have the order set aside but his application was refused.
Francis has said in his affidavit filed in the Court of Appeal Registry that he had pleaded guilty with explanation. He said he was advised by his lawyer that based on the explanation he gave, his case should have gone to trial.
He is seeking to have the proceedings in court nullified so he can have a new trial.
