NASSAU, BAHAMAS — A man convicted of killing in the course of dangerous driving had his sentence reduced from nearly three years to four months imprisonment yesterday as the Court of Appeal deemed the sentence “unduly severe”.
On July 25, 2021, Nelson Johnson made a right turn onto East Sunrise Highway in Grand Bahama to travel south, but failed to ascertain his way clear which resulted in a collision with a motorcyclist — Yul Marche — who sustained serious injuries to his head and body and was transported to the Rand Memorial Hospital.
He died in hospital the following evening.
Johnson initially pleaded not guilty to the charge of killing in the court of dangerous driving before Deputy Chief Magistrate Debbye Ferguson and was granted $10,000 bail.
When he returned to court the following day, he changed his plea to guilty.
He was convicted and sentenced to 32 months imprisonment at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services on December 22, 2021.
He did not file an appeal until March 7, 2022, outside the permitted time to appeal.
He filed an application to extend the time to appeal the sentence on 11 grounds, including that the sentence was “unduly severe”.
The application for an extension of time was allowed.
In its ruling, handed down Thursday, the Court of Appeal said the police officer’s report on the collision did not disclose, in the court’s view, any indication that Johnson drove in a manner dangerous to the public.
The appellate court also noted that there was no allegation of speeding or driving in a reckless manner and its view was the incident was more consistent with careless driving.
“The court is of the view that the sentenced imposed by the learned magistrate in the circumstances of this case is unduly severe based on the authorities,” read the ruling.
“Accordingly, given the circumstances, the court determined to quash the sentenced imposed and substitute a sentence of four months effective from the date of conviction.”
As Johnson has already served four months in BDOC since his conviction, he will be released immediately.
The Road Traffic Amendment Bill, 2019, which passed in the House of Assembly, in July 2020, seeks to increase penalties for people convicted of killing in the course of dangerous or reckless driving which could result in prison sentences of up to 15 years for offenders.
The new law came into force on February 9, 2022 — nearly two years after it was passed in Parliament.
One of the grounds of the appellant’s appeal was that the judge erred in law by failing to adopt the discretionary power as to financial penalties in sentencing allowed by the Road Traffic Act and that she ought to have imposed a financial penalty.
“It appears that certain amendments have been passed relative to this offense, but those amendments postdate the trial which is the subject of this appeal and thus have no bearing on this case,” the appellate court noted in its ruling.
Driving dangerously or recklessly is defined by the act as someone who drives at speeds in excess of the permitted limit, who overtakes other vehicles when it is clearly not safe to do so; and fail to adhere to traffic lights and safety crossing.
The appellate court interpreted this as those who drive with deliberate disregard for the safety of other road users or “in essence persons who are reckless in that they drive in a manner which they know to be dangerous but do so in any event”.
Justices Milton Evans, Sir Michael Barnett and Carolita Bethel ruled on the matter.
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