No-case submission filed for attorney’s unregistered dogs case

A no-case submission has been filed in the matter against a notable local attorney, Ruthilia Maximea, who is before the Magistrate’s Court for failing to register her dogs to the Department of Agriculture.

Effectively, a no-case submission is made when the defence is arguing that the evidence led by the Prosecution fails to support a finding of guilt and that the court should dismiss the charge.

Lewis Hunte, Maximea’s lawyer, told the court the Prosecution did not provide enough evidence to establish that Maximea indeed owned the dogs she was accused of not registering. 

Hunte also pointed out what he described as inconsistency in the witness testimony as the Prosecution’s key witness acknowledge he did not remember all the details of the events that transpired. 

The attorney also indicated the witness did not take a written and signed statement from Maximea.

On the other hand, prosecutor Jamal Bridgewater maintained the Crown had properly established the case and provided substantial evidence to indicate Maximea owned the dogs and did not register them.

Witness Testimony

The prosecution’s witness, Detective Constable (DC) Ryan Porter told the court that on February 3, 2020, he received a report that some dogs had killed three goats belonging to a man. 

Porter said he told the complainant to take some photographs and inquire around the community as to who owned the dogs fitting the description. The Detective Constable told the court that on February 6, 2020, a statement was collected from the person who issued the report. Porter said the complainant told him the dogs belonged to Maximea.

He added that on February 18, 2020, he requested a memo from the Agriculture Department to check if the accused had registered the dogs with the department and the document received indicated Maximea did not have any dogs registered within the last 12 months. 

Porter said on February 19, 2020, Maximea was called to the Road Town Police Station and the allegations were read to her. The police officer said he took Maximea’s statement in his pocketbook.

Porter told the court Maximea denied the allegations that her dogs killed the goat. However, according to him, she acknowledged she owned two dogs. The DC also said she confirmed the dogs were not registered with the Agriculture Department and her property was not properly fenced.

On February 26, Porter said he visited Maximea’s residence where he saw two dogs. He said during a conversation with the accused, Maximea indicated she had up to 13 dogs at one point and most of them died over time. Porter also claimed the accused said she had a third dog that was killed.

Problems Tendering Evidence

Porter told the court he took several photos while on the property. He said they included pictures of the two dogs, the layout of the property, as well as the house of the person who made the report on the dogs. However, there were several problems with tendering the photographs as evidence in the trial.

The witness could not properly describe the contents of the photographs. He also struggled to describe the colour dogs in the pictures he took as he said he did not recall everything in its specificity. 

When prodded by Hunte to confirm if the dogs he saw at the premise fit the description of the dogs in the original report, the witness said he was unsure.

The defence attorney argued that the photographs should not be tendered as evidence because the witness was unable to give a specific description of the contents to identify the images. 

However, Magistrate Khadeen Palmer accepted the description the witness gave and said she will determine the weight of the evidence given.

The matter was adjourned until March 21, 2022, when the court will decide on the defence’s no-case submission.