By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A JUDGE said there was no justification for giving a former police corporal anything less than 10 years in jail for beating a man in police custody who later died.

In a written ruling on Donovan Gardiner, who was convicted of the manslaughter of Desmond Key, Justice Vera Watkins said she had taken into account a number of factors, including a plea of mitigation.

But she added: “I find that there is no justification for imposing less than 10 years imprisonment."

Gardiner, a 39-year-old married father of two, faced up to life behind bars for the Father’s Day 2007 beating that eventually resulted in Mr Key’s death seven months later.

The judge’s ruling said: “I have reviewed the evidence at trial and the mitigation plea made by counsel for Gardiner.

“In particular, I have noted that Gardiner has not expressed any remorse. I have also noted that the evidence suggests that the victim may have been under the influence of alcohol and he was in custody of the police at the time of the incident. It is reasonable to conclude that if the victim was intoxicated then his powers of reasoning may have been impaired.

“As an experienced police officer, this ought to have been an indication to Gardiner that there was a possibility of unusual or abnormal behaviour on the part of the victim and that the victim ought to have been treated with particular care.”

Gardiner stood trial in the Supreme Court for the January 19, 2008, death of Desmond Key, who died of pancreatitis at Princess Margaret Hospital.

Key had been in hospital for seven months after being beaten with a baseball bat in a holding cell at the Grove Police Station on June 17, 2007.

Gardiner stood accused of hitting the detainee in the head and side with the wooden bat. On March 2, after two weeks of trial, a nine member jury found him guilty of manslaughter.

Immediately after the 6-3 verdict was handed down, defence attorney Wayne Munroe indicated his intent to file a constitutional motion seeking to have the conviction quashed.

At a hearing on March 20, Mr Munroe argued that the trial was not a fair trial because the prosecution did not disclose Key's complete medical records and other documents important to the defence.

He asked the judge to publicly declare that the prosecution had breached her March 2011 order to produce complete medical records and throw out the conviction.

However, Gardiner's application to quash the conviction was thrown out by Justice Vera Watkins on the grounds that it was filed at the wrong time.

On June 5, Prosecutor Linda Evans asked the court to consider the punishment that was on the law books, under section 293 of the penal code, which notes that outside of manslaughter by negligence, “whoever commits manslaughter in any other case shall be liable to imprisonment for life.”

However, defending attorneys Wayne Munroe, Tecoyo Bridgewater and Tonique Lewis took exception to prosecutor Linda Evans’ submission that their client was liable to that punishment.

During a mitigation plea, lead attorney Mr Munroe told the judge that his client's sentencing fell under section 293 of the Act, which says that any man convicted of manslaughter by negligence is liable to a maximum of five years' imprisonment.

Mr Munroe supported this claim by referring to the judge's direction to the jury before conviction to consider the option along with manslaughter.

He said the sentence was appropriate for the man who not only had no previous brushes with the law, but a family to support, which he did as an exemplary officer in the Royal Bahamas Police Force for 22 years.

Prosecutor Evans, however, disagreed with the defence and said while the option of manslaughter by negligence may have been put to the jury, they returned with a conviction of manslaughter, which by law made Gardiner liable to being imprisoned at Her Majesty's Prison for life.

Taking all of the factors and circumstances into consideration, the judge concluded “there is no justification for imposing a sentence of less than 10 years imprisonment.”

Gardiner’s jail stretch will run from the date of conviction.

However, it is up in the air whether or not Gardiner will be appealing the conviction and sentencing as Mr Munroe said yesterday, it was up to his client.

“At this stage, we will have to look at the decision the judge gave. To her credit, she put her decisions in writing so you can always go back and look at the reasons,” he said.

“We’ll be looking at the reasons for this ruling, the previous ruling, and her summing up and then we’ll advise Mr Gardiner further.”