THE COURT of Appeal on Monday ordered that a 2000 Toyota Tundra motor truck, which was ordered forfeited by a judge in the Gun Court, be returned to Better Wheels Motors Ltd.
The judge had ordered the forfeiture of the truck after Moneyede Martin, a business-man who is a director and shareholder of Better Wheels Motors in Port Maria, St. Mary, pleaded guilty in February 2003 to illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Police had stopped Martin in St. Mary in January 2003 and asked him for the documents for the truck. When Martin opened a briefcase which was in the truck to show the police the relevant documents, the police saw the firearm.
Martin was sentenced in February 2003 to four years imprisonment.
The company applied to the Supreme Court last year to have the forfeiture order set aside but the court turned down the application. The company appealed against the Supreme Court ruling and the Court of Appeal, after hearing legal arguments from attorney-at-law Oswest Senior-Smith, ruled that the judge did not have the authority to make the order for forfeiture based on the facts of the case.
The court, comprising Mr. Justice Algernon Smith, Mr. Justice Howard Cooke and Mr. Justice Karl Harrison, agreed with Mr. Senior-Smith that there was no evidence that there was any connection between the truck and the offence for which Martin had pleaded guilty. The company presented evidence that showed that it owned the truck.
