PHILIPSBURG--A court case against 41-year-old police officer M.L.R.S., accused of assault and fraud, was heard on Monday in his absence and without legal representation.

 

This was the result of the fact that the case had already been postponed twice, both times due to a change of lawyer. The case was initially due on May 19 of this year, however, S.'s first lawyer could not attend due to pregnancy. The case was postponed again on July 28.

 

Due to a financial dispute between S. and his second lawyer, another change of lawyer occurred, but this lawyer was only notified on Wednesday, and was not available for the court hearing. In her absence, lawyer Geert Hatzman was present to request another adjournment.

 

The accused himself was not present. He was said to be in Curaçao for medical reasons, however, as the prosecutor and the judge pointed out, he had not submitted any documentary evidence of his supposed health problems, nor had he written to advise the court he could not attend. The judge decided to hear the case in his absence, and, as Hatzman had no further knowledge of the case, without a lawyer.

 

The accusation was twofold. The first charge was that on December 22, 2011, S. had responded to an incident in Tantra Nightclub, where shots were said to have been fired.

 

An arrest was subsequently made where the arrested man resisted, causing the police officers to use violence to subdue him. However, CCTV and statements from S.'s colleagues and witnesses proved that S. had hit the man in the face after he had already been handcuffed.

 

The victim sustained a broken jaw, however, the prosecutor pointed out that it could not be proven whether the broken jaw was caused before, in the process of subduing him before arrest, or whether this was caused by the punch after the man was already cuffed. As a result, S. was only charged with a simple assault.

 

The second charge was that between May 18 and May 29, S. had persuaded employees of Inselair to issue a total of 12 tickets to Canada and the Dominican Republic, against cheques worth US $3500, which were pre-dated and that bounced when they were cashed. An employee stated, about accepting the pre-dated cheques: "I knew he was a police officer, so I thought it would not be a problem."

 

S. was separately charged with falsifying the cheques, by pre-dating them, knowing that they would bounce. Initially, he had also been suspected of human-trafficking, as it was believed that was what he intended using the tickets for, but this could not be proven.

 

The prosecutor, in his demand, took into consideration the fact that S. had only been charged with a simple assault, and the long time it took for the case to come to court. He also took into consideration the fact that S., as a police officer, "should control himself, and should control the situation around him."

 

He pointed out that, as a police officer, S. should be of exemplary behaviour and provide an example to others. The demand made by the prosecutor was for a suspended prison sentence of three months, and an unpaid work requirement of 180 hours.

 

S. has been suspended from his post as a police officer since the allegations against him were made official, however, he is still being paid. If he is convicted, he will instantly be dismissed from the police service. If he is found not guilty, St. Maarten Police Force will instate a disciplinary procedure, in which all documents used in the court case will be reviewed before a decision will be taken about his dismissal.

 

The judge delayed her verdict, giving S. a chance to attend in person. The verdict will be given on September 29.

 

(The Daily Herald)