R v Maurice Hunte

• Jurisdiction: Montserrat
• Judge: Morley J
• Judgment Date: 17 July 2023
• Neutral Citation: MS 2023 HC 5
• Court: High Court (Montserrat)
• Year: 2023
• Docket Number: CASE MNIHCR 2020/0014

Rex

and

Maurice Hunte

CASE MNIHCR 2020/0014

IN THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN SUPREME COURT

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE

APPEARANCES

DPP Oris Sullivan and Ms Kadian McNeil for the Crown.

Mr Kenroy Hyman for the defendant.

SENTENCE

For prison officer arranging phones and cannabis for prisoners

Morley J

1 Maurice Hunte aged 58 (dob 19.05.65) falls to be sentenced as a prison officer on three counts of misconduct in a public office during early 2020, following conviction by 11-day jury trial occurring 08.03–03.04.23, sentence being at large as common law offences. He was proved to have given a phone each to inmates Quincy Isaacs and Lindon Fergus, and to have been in a conspiracy with former inmate Chrisselton Jules to supply cannabis to prisoners.

2 Hunte is from Guyana, coming to Montserrat in 2002, bringing his family, and up to 2020 he was prison officer at junior grade, starting 01.01.10.

• a. In April 2020, a prisoner named Stephen Molyneaux reported there were phones in the prison, which led to searches.

• b. On 05.04.20, Molyneaux pointed officers to a Samsung phone hidden in a sink in laundry, wrapped in plastic, belonging to inmate Quincy Isaacs, who is Hunte's son.

• c. Also that day on the prison farm was found a burnt cannabis reefer, and on 07.04.20 were found on the farm four cannabis reefers hidden in a jar.

• d. Then on 09.04.20, a Digicel phone was found hidden in a boot on the farm, admitted to by inmate Lindon Fergus.

• e. Inquiries led to Hunte, as Stephen Molyneaux reported he had seen Hunte pass a phone to Isaacs, which he had then helped charge, and former prisoner Chrisselton Jules reported he was in an arrangement to supply Hunte cannabis for inmates.

• f. Seizure of the two phones led to data showing Hunte being associated with them:

  i. Concerning the Samsung recovered from Isaacs, investigation showed it was connected twice to the ‘f212’ wifi box where Nitisha Hunte lives and once to the ‘2452’ wifi box where Kinnisha Isaacs lives, both being daughters of Hunte.

  i. Concerning the Digicel recovered from Fergus, being a dark Digicel 501, investigation showed:

  • 1. There is a Digicel receipt showing Hunte bought the sim on 11.11.19;

  • 2. Notoya Gordon of Digicel gave Hunte a dark Digicel 501, by inference the one recovered, in around February/March 2020;

  • 3. Phone analysis showed the Digicel was set up against email account ‘huntemaurice11@gmail.com’;

  • 4. The Digicel was twice connected to the wifi box of Kinnisha Isaacs, Hunte's daughter; and

  • 5. In a whatsapp record on the Digicel of a conversation between Fergus and Jules, there is a text on 15.03.20 at 17.26, where Jules refers to Hunt saying ‘wa ma say isa 50 piece him gi me but me no think me go bring that me go gi hunt fi drop it to you’.

• g. In evidence, Jules said around February 2020 at 20.00, at the home of his grandmother he gave Hunte four cannabis spliffs for $20ec to bring to the jail for Lindon Fergus, while the text conversation was about supplying cannabis to Fergus valued at $50ec via Hunte, though it did not happen, covid beginning shortly after, so Jules smoked the ‘50 piece’. He further stated the cannabis found on 07.04.20 was supplied by him, not Hunte, by throwing the jar onto the farm grounds.

• h. Molyneaux said there were 5 or 6 phones in the jail, though during searches only 3 were recovered, and he attributed one unrecovered phone to another prison officer.

3 The overview is Hunte falls to be sentenced for bringing in two phones and arranging for cannabis, while others may have brought in phones, and there is no recovered cannabis attributable to Hunte.

4 On indictment, originally he faced six counts, to which he pleaded ‘not guilty’ on 23.11.20:

• a. Count 1 — official corruption, contrary to s78 Penal Code cap 4.02, maximum sentence 3 years, being solicitation from a prisoner of $200ec, namely from Stephen Molyneaux;

• b. Count 2 — Breach of trust, contrary to s110 supra, maximum sentence 3 years, being conducting banking transactions for a prisoner, namely for Stephen Molyneaux;

• c. Count 3 — Breach of trust, supra, being generally bringing in phones, a sim card, an mp3 player and a transistor for prisoners;

• d. Count 4 — Breach of trust, supra, being bringing into the prison the Digicel phone, for Lindon Fergus;

• e. Count 5 — Misconduct in public office, contrary to common law, maximum sentence life imprisonment, being conspiring with Chrisselton Jules to bring in cannabis to Fergus in February 2020; and

• f. Count 6 — Misconduct, supra, being conspiring with Jules to bring in cannabis to Fergus in March 2020.

5 There followed delay, through 30 pre-trial appearances, owing to covid, and to difficulty over representation, as Hunte had paid former counsel Warren Cassell $8000ec, but who said this was only for appearance at the Magistrates Court (which on Montserrat does not deal with sufficiency of evidence, the case being sent instead quickly to the High Court, meaning there was little work on the case to do before the magistrate, begging whether the large amount paid truly was only for work before the magistrate). Cassell later went to jail for offences of unrelated dishonesty, and Counsel Kenroy Hyman sought to assist Hunte, with the case listed for trial on several occasions, but either bumped by other over-running trials or adjourned for Hunte to complete securing fresh funds.

6 On 30.11.22, Hunte rejected an offer by the Crown to plead guilty to a single adjusted count of breach of trust, embracing phones and cannabis, instead pressing for trial.

7 On 01.12.22, the trial indictment was settled for simplicity as three counts of misconduct, and so amended unopposed.

8 On 08.03.23, Hunte pleaded not guilty to the trial indictment, and the jury was later sworn. During trial, count 1 was split into two counts, 1 and 4, to separate two phones, where count 1 referred to the Samsung, and count 4 to a ZTE phone recovered in the prison under a concrete slab, also on 05.04.20, but on which as the trial progressed there was no admissible evidence against Hunte so it was discontinued, leaving the three counts upon which he was convicted on 03.04.23, namely misconduct for bringing in the Samsung (count 1), Digicel (count 2), and the cannabis conspiracy (count 3), adjourning sentence for reports, remanding Hunte into custody, who had been on bail.

9 In a 2-page medical report dated 04.07.23 from Dr Chikelu Valentine, Hunte is...