DUI DISPARITY

Five men who pleaded guilty to driving with more than the legally permitted amount of alcohol on their breath appeared in a St James courtroom to be sentenced last Tuesday.

The legal limit in Jamaica is 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, or a blood-alcohol level of 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millimetres of blood, with breathalyser machines used to detect the levels.

A judge at the St James Parish Court ordered all five – Clifroy Graham, Oshane Johnson, Alejandro Smythe, Marlon McLaren and Christopher Brown – to each pay a fine of $7,000 or serve five days in prison, authorities and court records seen by The Gleaner have confirmed.

The following day, another motorist, Carlton Tumble, appeared before a judge at the Clarendon Parish Court in May Pen to be sentenced after he, too, pleaded guilty to the same offence – driving with excess alcohol on the breath.

Tumble was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine or serve three months in prison and his driver’s licence was suspended for 12 months, court records show.

Nearly all of the six men who pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol on their breath were given breathalyser tests because they were caught speeding, police sources charged.

ADJUDICATION DIFFERENCE

Amid the perennial carnage on Jamaica’s roadways, which has claimed over 2,000 lives since 2020, the disparity in how the two sets of cases were disposed of has some law enforcement operatives fuming.

“These cases highlight the difference in how some judges adjudicate. What is expected to happen is what happened in the May Pen court and not in the court in Montego Bay,” one operative lamented. “And I am a bit puzzled as to why in one case, suspension of the driver’s licence was part of the sanction, but not so in the other cases.”

Dr Lucien Jones, vice-chairman of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC), made it clear that he was not questioning the competency of judges to interpret and apply the law, but said the “mixed signals” from the courts will serve to reduce the effectiveness of road safety initiatives.

Further, he described it as “disappointing” that a major component of the sanction regime provided for in the Road Traffic Act (RTA) 2018 – the suspension of driver’s licence – was “happening in some, but not all cases” where motorists are found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol.

“The effectiveness of the breathalyser programme depends on both the fines and suspension of driver’s licences in all cases that come before the courts, so that drivers are fully aware of the serious consequences that will attend their bad behaviour,” Jones told The Gleaner on Monday.

However, the administrative arm of the judiciary has pushed back at the criticisms, noting that in cases where a motorist is charged under Section 66 of the RTA 2018, the Fifth Schedule of the legislation provides a maximum fine of $50,000 or 14 days’ imprisonment.

Kadiesh Jarrett Fletcher, director of client services, communication and information at the Court Administration Division, said this statutory maximum does not mandate a fixed penalty.

Instead, Jarrett Fletcher said it grants the presiding judge discretion to determine an appropriate sanction within the prescribed limits, “having regards to all relevant circumstances presented in court”.

“Each judge is empowered by law to assess the specific facts of the case, consider any mitigating or aggravating factors and impose a sentence that is proportionate and just,” she said on Friday, in response to questions submitted by The Gleaner related to the two sets of cases.

“As such, penalties may vary from case to case, reflecting the principle that each matter is adjudicated on its own merit,” said Jarrett Fletcher.

A total of 227 people have died in motor vehicle crashes between January 1 and July 28 this year, a two per cent increase over the comparative period last year, according to the latest data from the Island Traffic Authority (ITA).

Speeding (69), failure to keep to the proper traffic lane (42), overtaking improperly (23) and pedestrians walking or standing in the roadway (18) were the leading causes of fatal crashes, the ITA data revealed.

Since January 1 this year, 56 people have been ticketed for driving under the influence of alcohol, according to official police statistics.

The statistics showed, too, that the cops issued a total of 412,566 tickets between January 1 and July 24 this year for traffic-related offences – 32,160 more than for the corresponding period last year – as part of their attempts to stem the carnage on the roadways.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com