Former MLA Lyndon Martin was granted bail after a hearing in Summary Court yesterday.
Chief Magistrate Margaret Ramsay-Hale imposed conditions that include a surety for $5,000 and reporting to the police Mondays through Fridays.
She granted bail after Solicitor General Cheryll Richards said she was no longer objecting. Ms Richards had objected last week and bail was refused at that time (Caymanian Compass, 4 April).
Since last week, Ms Richards advised, she had received preliminary results of an investigation into allegations of threats against a Crown witness. She had reviewed the report, in terms of whether Mr. Martin had any involvement in the threats, and concluded that did not appear to be the case.
The magistrate formally asked Martin where he wanted his matters tried and he elected Grand Court. Ms Richards and Defence Attorney Lloyd Samson asked for Thursday, 8 May, as the next mention date.
At that time, Ms Richards expected that Mr. Samson would have all the documents in the case. A preliminary inquiry was then set for 5 June so that the matter could go to Grand Court in the July session.
Martin had been in custody since Thursday, 27 March, when he was arrested but not charged. He was said at the time to be cooperating with police in their investigations.
On Wednesday, 2 April, he was brought to Summary Court on charges including burglary and doing an act tending and intending to pervert the administration of public justice.
That act was detailed as making a series of false allegations against Deputy Police Commissioner Anthony Ennis.
Bail was withheld because Ms Richards told the court she had been advised that one of the Crown witnesses had been subjected to an unprovoked attack by a relative of the defendant and future violence had been threatened.
The magistrate said the report should be thoroughly investigated before bail was granted. Yesterday’s mention was for an update of the situation.
Mr. Samson, who told the court last week that Martin would plead not guilty and choose trial by jury in Grand Court, said his client was happy to comply with all bail conditions.
Conditions include surrender of all travel documents and maintaining his known residence in Grand Cayman. The magistrate said it was well known that Mr. Martin is a Bracker; she asked if he had business interests there that would require him to travel.
Mr. Samson indicated that it was more important that Mr. Martin has family in Cayman Brac and may want to visit. The magistrate then added a condition of bail that he notify police through his attorney of his address if he travels to either of the Sister Islands.
Martin faces a total of 12 charges, all of which relate to a period between 11 August and 20 September 2007.
There are five charges of falsely accusing another of a crime and five related charges of making a false report of the commission of an offence.
One false accusation relates to abuse of office — that Mr. Ennis abused his position by systematically providing Cayman Net News publisher Desmond Seales copies of confidential ‘Gold Command’ documents relating to police operations and other sensitive police matters.
In the second charge, he allegedly accused Mr. Ennis of unlawfully supplying details of confidential meetings between the Auditor General and Commissioner of Police regarding ongoing investigations into the Turtle Farm/Boatswain Beach project, which may have had the potential to compromise the said investigations.
The third charge relates to the accusation that Mr. Ennis removed case files in order to interfere with ongoing police investigations.
The fourth charge relates to an alleged leak to Desmond Seales of confidential police information regarding the withdrawal of personal firearms from certain police officers, which could have compromised the personal safety of those officers.
The final accusation concerns an alleged leak of confidential information regarding the dates and times of intended Police counter-narcotics operations in Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac.
Details of the burglary charge allege that Martin entered as a trespasser the private office of Desmond Seales with intent to steal therein.
Related Videos
