By Barbara Gayle, Staff Court ReporterPOPULAR DEEJAYS Lady Saw and Bounty Killer will not be performing the Petty Sessions Court's order to do 240 hours of community service each for using indecent language.
The deejays will, instead, each pay a fine of $1,000 or spend 10 days in prison, as the Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the Resident Magistrate did not have the jurisdiction to impose the community service order.
They had pleaded guilty in the Spanish Town Petty Sessions Court on September 7 last year and were sentenced to do community service.
Attorneys-at-law Linda Wright, who represented Bounty Killer, and Richard Rowe, who represented Lady Saw, argued before the Supreme Court yesterday that their clients had pleaded guilty to an offence under the Town and Communities Act, for which the penalty was a fine. They said the Resident Magistrate did not have the jurisdiction to impose a community service order.
Mrs. Marjorie Cole-Smith, High Court Judge, heard the appeal and upheld the submissions. The judge set aside the community service orders and instead, imposed a fine of $1,000 each or 10 days' imprisonment.
Bounty Killer, whose real name is Rodney Pryce, and Lady Saw, (Marion Hall), had pleaded guilty in the Petty Sessions Court, Spanish Town, St. Catherine, to using indecent language at the "Champions in Action" stage show at Fort Clarence Beach, Hellshire, St. Catherine, on August 19, 2001.
The deejays had first taken the matter to the Court of Appeal, but that court pointed out that it did not have the power to hear appeals from the Petty Sessions Court. The deejays were advised that it was the Supreme Court which had jurisdiction to hear appeals from the Petty Sessions Court and that the application for leave to appeal should be made within 14 days of the sentence.
The main ground of appeal was that the deejays had pleaded guilty to an offence under section 3(m) of the Town and Communities Act and for such an offence the penalty was a fine not exceeding $1,000. There was no provision for any sentence of imprisonment nor could such an order be given unless they had failed to pay the fine.
Reference was also made to section 10 of the Criminal Justice (Reform) Act which grants the power to impose a community service order with respect to a person 17 years of age and older who is convicted of an offence punishable with imprisonment.
The lawyers argued, on appeal, that the sentence of 240 hours of community service was the maximum provided under the Criminal Justice (Reform) Act. The deejays said the words used by them should not merit the maximum sentence.
