Attorney concedes flight risk concerns, withdraws bail bid in cocaine case

A bid by alleged drug trafficker Clive Davis to secure bail was yesterday withdrawn in the Supreme Court after his attorney said she was unable to satisfactorily address concerns raised about him being a flight risk.

Davis is one of five men charged in connection with a $12-billion cocaine bust in Havendale, St Andrew, in August 2024. He and his co-accused are scheduled to stand trial in the Home Circuit Court on March 8 next year.

The bail renewal application was scheduled to be heard before Justice Sonia Bertram-Linton alongside a similar application by co-accused Collin Ricketts. However, Ricketts' attorney, King's Counsel Peter Champagnie, was absent and requested another date for the matter.

Davis' attorney, Kymberli Whittaker, however, told the court that based on instructions received from her client, he was not deported as previously suggested and had returned to Jamaica by boat.

However, she acknowledged that the information was insufficient to satisfactorily address concerns raised by the court during an earlier bail hearing regarding his travel history and potential flight risk.

"So at this time, I do not want to waste the court's time and, as such, I am constrained. There is no proper explanation that I, as counsel, can put forward to alleviate the concerns of him being a flight risk," she told the judge before withdrawing the application.

Davis is charged alongside Collin Ricketts, Clayton Peart, 72-year-old Junior Haldane and Aubrey Sterling with possession of cocaine, dealing in cocaine, trafficking cocaine and conspiracy.

During the hearing, Justice Bertram-Linton extended the bail of Haldane and Sterling but declined applications seeking to vary their bail conditions. The other accused men were remanded until the trial date.

Attorney Lloyd McFarlane urged the court to reduce the number of days Haldane is required to report to the police from three days each week, arguing that the reporting schedule had become burdensome for the elderly accused and his family.

McFarlane told the court that Haldane lives with his wife and child and that the frequent reporting requirements were creating logistical difficulties, particularly in assisting with family responsibilities.

While conceding that the reason was "not the strongest" application he had advanced, McFarlane stressed that Haldane had fully complied with his bail conditions since being granted bail in 2024.

He noted that his client had been punctual in reporting to the police and consistently attended court.

But the judge declined the request, noting that Haldane had been adhering to the reporting requirements and saw no reason to alter conditions that were working.

Attorney Steven Jackson also sought a variation of a condition imposed on Sterling restricting him from travelling outside Kingston and St Andrew. Jackson argued that the restriction was affecting Sterling's livelihood as a taxi operator.

He submitted that Sterling requires the freedom to travel outside the Corporate Area in order to earn more to cover his legal fees.

However, Justice Bertram-Linton appeared unconvinced, noting that the condition was unusually specific and was likely imposed for a particular reason when bail was granted.

"It sounds so specific," the judge remarked, questioning why the restriction applied only to Sterling.

The judge further observed that the condition may have been based on information that was before the court at the time and said she was reluctant to interfere with it without knowing the circumstances that led to its imposition.

She suggested that Jackson take the matter before the judge who had imposed the earlier restriction, before declining the application.,

The men were arrested on August 6, 2024, after members of the Firearms and Narcotics Investigation Division and the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation Branch conducted an operation at a premises in Havendale.

Police reported that approximately 2,600 kilogrammes of cocaine, valued at an estimated US$75.79 million, was seized during the operation.

Investigators alleged that the men were in the process of loading the cocaine onto a bus when law enforcement officers moved in and made the arrests.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com