Bad-luck Berry freed of careless driving charges
LEROY Berry had a change in fortune this week that took a long time in coming.
Berry was freed of careless driving charges when he appeared in the Traffic Court on Wednesday.
And no one is happier than Berry who had been having a string of bad luck since last May. On May 10, 2006 Berry and wife Margaret were reportedly harassed by police in Half-Way-Tree. Members of the Island Special Constabulary Force allegedly beat Margaret, after accusing her husband of operating an illegal taxi. An altercation reportedly developed between Berry and the officers, and his wife intervened.
An Observer photograph brought the beating to national attention. But the Director of Public Prosecutions later ruled that no charges were to be laid against the officers involved in the beating.
A few days after the Half-Way-Tree incident, Berry was shot by unknown assailants.
But his troubles did not end there as several weeks later police seized his car and charged him with dangerous driving. Berry had reportedly sat in his car for three hours when the police attempted to seize it on grounds that he was contravening the Road Traffic Act. The charge was later reduced to careless driving.
But on Wednesday Berry had one less problem to worry about when he walked out of the Traffic Court. The charge was dismissed upon application from Berry’s defence. He was represented by Akilah Anderson of Knight, Junor and Samuels.
“I feel good, cause dis mornin Ah tell mi modda seh, ‘No weapon rise gens mi prospa, who God bless no man curse,'” Berry told the Observer.
Berry’s time in court, however, is far from over as he and his wife are scheduled to return to court on February 28 to answer to charges brought against them by the state, in relation to the May 10 beating. The case was put off on Thursday because one of the police witnesses was sick.
On Wednesday, Berry told the Observer that “I put di Lord in front,” in reference to further legal action he and his defence team will bring against the police in relation to the seizure of his car.
He is seeking to sue the police for unlawful seizure of the vehicle and malicious prosecution.
