Since February 2007, Mark Sewell, has been on remand fighting his extradition to the US, where he is wanted for narcotics trafficking dating back to December 1994 to August 1997.
The Former Chief Magistrate Margaret-Gabb McKenzie, after an in-depth look at the documents presented by the US Government, ruled on September 30, 2011 that a prima facie case was well-established against Sewell.
She ordered that he be extradited to the US, but Sewell's lead attorney, the late Elston Kaseke, filed an application for Habeas Corpus in the Supreme Court, which was the proper means to appeal the Chief Magistrate's extradition order.
The problem is that after Kaseke's death, his cases were left unattended, one of them being Mark Sewell's application to the Supreme Court.
That was done October 2011, and almost 2 years have passed without a hearing.
The matter was called up once again by Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin for a final adjournment because since then, none of Sewell's 3 attorneys: Arthur Saldivar, Dickey Bradley, or Bryan Neal, seemed able to move forward with it.
None of them showed up at the previous adjournment, so when no one showed up today once again, the Government Crown Council, Magali Perdomo, made an application to strike it out on the grounds of an abuse of process and a lack of prosecution.
The Chief Justice, after carefully considering all the details, was just about to grant that application and strike out the habeas corpus case when attorney Arthur Saldivar showed up. His appearance was at the 11th hour and 59th minute, when his client's case was in extreme distress.
Nevertheless, the Chief Justice, after hearing his reasons and the apology, refused the strike-out application because he thought that Mark Sewell would not have been given a fair opportunity.
After the hearing, 7News was outside of court, and we asked Saldivar about the appearance that Sewell's case was being treated with no sense urgency by his attorneys. Here's how he explained it:
Arthur Saldivar - Attorney for Mark Sewell
"The situation was that Dr. Kaseke was the original practitioner charged with conduct for the matter - that caused some problem after his untimely passing. His estate and those represented his estate, having control of the documents - I was not retained originally in relation to this application - a number of attorneys had conducted prior to being asked to assist and retained. Whether or not it's the eleventh hour or 59th minute or whatever it is - the fact of the matter is that we have a Chief Justice who is looking at fairness as an overiding principle and understanding fully what our constitution requires. Outside of that I guess Mr. Seawell was born under a lucky loo."
Daniel Ortiz
"What is going to happen now? The court seems to be stretched to it's patience - will you be ready to present your client's case and prosecute habeas corpus application?"
Arthur Saldivar
"It's not a matter of patience, it's a matter of a right of a person in such circumstances. As I've indicated to the court, I have applied myself to ensure that we are ready and we will be ready. We have no doubt - a very strong arguably case on this application and are more than willing, we are eager to ventilate it in open court. I would have done so if pressed to but thanks to the prudence and understanding of his lordship - that was not necessary today."
Chief Justice Benjamin has scheduled August 9 for a full hearing of the habeas corpus application.
Email
Print