I did not want to die in prison’
Francis Joseph
Published: 3 Jul 2009
Felix James looks down Frederick Street,
Francis Joseph
Felix James had one wish—he did not want to die in prison. Yesterday, he got his wish. After more than 38 years in prison, James was released after he got a conditional pardon from President George Maxwell Richards.
James walked out of the Port-of-Spain State Prison, somewhat confused as to the surroundings. He was in jail for so long, he remembered Abdul Malik being on death row before he was hanged. It was about 3.40 pm when James, 66, walked out of the prison gates with his attorneys, Mark Seepersad and Gerald Ramdeen. They had fought for five years for James’ release. James was arrested in 1971 and charged with murder, a murder which he said was over a woman. But on April 24, 1975, a jury in the Port-of-Spain High Court found him guilty of murder, but insane. He was ordered to be detained at Her Majesty’s Pleasure.
James said he was first kept at the Port-of-Spain prison and then transferred to Carrera Island Prison where he was forgotten for 30 years. In 2003, his attorneys filed a constitutional motion, challenging his stay in prison. No sooner had he filed his case, James was transferred, this time to St Ann’s Hospital. Justice Mustapha Ibrahim ordered that an evaluation be carried out on James to determine if he was suitable for release. The Psychiatric Hospital Tribunal recommended since 2004 that James be released. On October 2, 2006, Ibrahim remitted the case to the Minister of National Security to determine whether James was a fit and proper person to be released from custody.
Four reports were submitted to Attorney General John Jeremie, all recommending James to be released. But by letter dated January 10, 2007, Jeremie decided against releasing him. He wrote: “I believe that for me to make such a recommendation, I must be fully satisfied in my own mind that the applicant would not pose a threat to the citizens of this country if he were to be released.” In quashing the decision of the AG on January 30, this year, Justice Mira Dean-Armorer said no reasonable decision-maker would have perfunctorily cast the expert views away with a summary refusal to recommend the claimant’s release, without even recommending that further information be obtained.
“No rational decision-maker would have lost sight of the fact that he had no expertise to contradict the recommendations of the psychiatric and medical practitioners,” she said. “No rational decision-maker would have overlooked the fact that the separate independent reports recommended the claimant’s release. “In my view, it was this callousness which rendered the 10th January 2007 decision outrageous in its defiance of logic, and of accepted moral standards.” President Richards, acting in accordance with Section 87(1) of the Constitution, granted a pardon dated June 30 to James.
But there were conditions to the pardon. James must report to St Ann’s every six months for the next three years to be evaluated; that the medical reports be forwarded to the president; that James take medication which is prescribed; that he must live with his sisters; and that he do not possess firearms or weapons. Should he fail to comply, James can be rearrested and detained at the President’s Pleasure. Upon his release, James told the T&T Guardian: “I had faith I was going to be released. I had hoped that someday I would be out. I did not want to die in prison.”
