An incomplete plea agreement between prosecutors and the defence counsel has delayed the sentencing hearing of Richard Lonnie Parchment and Mario Abarca Cervera, who have both admitted to breaching Cayman’s quarantine restrictions.
Parchment and Cervera were each charged with a single count of failing to comply with the Control of COVID-19 (No. 3) Regulations, 2020 (SL 157 of 2020).
The charges stem from an incident in March 2021, when Parchment visited and interacted with Cervera, who was at home in mandatory self-isolation.
According to court documents, the breach was discovered when health officials, who were on routine patrol, attended Cervera’s residence and heard both men laughing from within the home.
The documents say police were called to Cervera’s home and, when officers arrived, both men were discovered standing closer together than six feet, without wearing masks and talking while Parchment showed Cervera something on his phone.
Appearing before the Summary Court on 28 June, Parchment and Cervera, listened on as Magistrate Angelyn Hernandez expressed her dissatisfaction with the delays and a lack of correspondence between the lawyers and the court.
“This court finds it utterly disrespectful to have received radio silence, after having emailed the Crown about the progression of this matter,” said Hernandez, who stressed that although the Crown and the defence counsel were in agreement on the need for a further adjournment – such approval was at the discretion of the court.
Waide DaCosta, for the defence, explained that discussions were still ongoing with the Crown to come to a formal plea agreement.
“These discussions have been ongoing since April,” replied Hernandez, who noted that this was the second time the sentencing hearing had been delayed.
“Therefore, the plea agreement must be settled within the next seven days, at which time it is to be communicated to the court, which will decide whether to accept it,” she said.
Hernandez added, “Admissions were made in April, at the time of the initial pleas, and therefore if this plea deal is to be accepted by the court, it must reflect those admissions.”
When bailing Parchment and Cervera to return to court, Hernandez said, “When we return in August, it will be for sentencing.”
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