By KHRISNA M VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

NEITHER minister with responsibility for legal affairs will claim responsibility for dropping a gun case last month, both saying they were out of the country on official business.

The absence of Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson was revealed last week. When asked yesterday why he did not review the case in question, Minister of State for Legal Affairs Damian Gomez said he was attending the World Intellectual Property Organization Conference in Trinidad and Tobago.

The meeting convened on November 25 and ended three days later on November 28.

“I cannot speak specifically,” Mr Gomez said, “I did not deal with the matter, I was out of the country.”

Asked if he could comment on why the matter against George and Janet Hayles was considered a “national security” issue and therefore discontinued, Mr Gomez said he had no further comment. 

This comes after the FNM questioned why Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald was Acting Attorney General in the absence of Mrs Allyson Maynard-Gibson, instead of Mr Gomez.

It was under the watch of Mr Fitzgerald that the status of the case, which had been before the courts since 2010, was changed.

The Hayles each faced a charge of possession of a firearm and ammunition, after police claimed finding them with a .380 pistol and 19 live rounds for the weapon. The discontinuation of the charges took place on Friday, December 28.

Not long after, Mr Fitzgerald issued a statement claiming that following a review of the file he was satisfied that it was appropriate to discontinue the prosecution.

Yesterday, while outside the Cabinet office, he declined to comment further.

Opposition Leader Dr Hubert Minnis has since made several calls for the government to clarify how and why the case was  dropped.

On Wednesday, he questioned how Mr Fitzgerald could so quickly conclude that the matter was a national security issue, when Mrs Maynard-Gibson obviously did not – as the trial went forward while she was in office.

If Mr Fitzgerald is right, Dr Minnis asked whether the Attorney General did her job with regard to the case.

He also suggested Prime Minister Perry Christie replace the now Attorney General or indicate to Mr Fitzgerald that he should explain his decision to the Bahamian public.