NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The government’s $2.5 million settlement with former Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) minister Shane Gibson for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution is “understandable” given the minster’s political stance and increased value, said a local Bahamian lawyer yesterday.
In an interview with Eyewitness News, prominent attorney Christina Galanos opined on the figure awarded and sought to explain why the settlement seems to be higher than other settlements of similar cases.
“Shane Gibson is in a class of his own,” Galanos said.
“Reason for, he was a political figure, a minister. What the law says in those circumstance is, the higher the person, the more attention that is attracted to it, the more money they should be entitled to,” she explained
“You also have to look that it was a political.
“…The thing abut this country is all it takes is an accusation. In some of the public’s eye Shane Gibson will always be guilty, even though they will see it as the PLP came to clear him.
“It’s hard to compensate someone in that position because their name can always be tarnished especially someone of that stature.”
Gibson had been accused of receiving more than $250,000 from the contractor to speed up around $1 million in payments the government owed him for cleanup work in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew in October 2016.
He was acquitted of those charges.
He later filed a lawsuit against the Attorney General, the Commissioner of Police, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Assistant Superintendent of Police Debra Thompson and contractor Jonathan Ash, a key prosecution witness in his trial before Justice Carolita Bethel.
He sought damages for false imprisonment on August, 2, 2017 and August, 3, 2017; ‘damages for malicious prosecution arising out of multiple charges of extortion, bribery, misconduct in public office laid maliciously and without reasonable or probable cause”, as well as aggravated damages and exemplary damages.
In December 2020, a Supreme Court’s ruling awarded just under $642,000 in damages for a Kenyan man Douglas Ngumi, who was unlawfully detained for more than six years.
The ruling was appealed in the Court of Appeal by his attorneys on the basis that it was “unreasonably low” and was instead awarded $750,000.
When calculating general damages in the initial judgement, Justice Indra Charles referred to the Privy Council’s ruling for Atain Takitota, a Japanese man who was unlawfully detained in prison for eight years from 1992 to 2000.
Takitota received $600,000 following his appeal.
During proceedings, Ngumi’s lawyer, Fred Smith QC also referred to the case of American visitor Tamara Merson to support his client’s damages claim.
Merson received $280,000 in damages for being falsely imprisoned for two days in 1987.
During her oral judgment, Charles said $5 million for exemplary damages was “beyond comprehension” and preposterous.
Smith had hit out against the ruling for the “terrible perception of social inequality” it gave when comparing the value of the Kenyan man and a renowned attorney-at-law who was falsely imprisoned for less than one day.
Attorney General Ryan Pinder has revealed that upon coming to office it was discovered that the Office of The Attorney General had $17.7 million in expenses that were required to settle outstanding legal claims.
He advised that an extra-budgetary payment plan has been set up to address what he called the “vexing issue” of unbudgeted settlement and judgment expenses.
