Attorney David P Cash has initiated a Supreme Court claim against the Commissioner of Police and the Attorney General, alleging unlawful arrest, assault, and constitutional rights violations during an incident in Freeport last year. The claim, filed last week, details accusations against officers at the Central Police Station in Grand Bahama, where Mr Cash was reportedly detained for 12 hours, assaulted, and charged with disorderly behavior and obscene language. These charges were dismissed in July 2023 by Magistrate Laquay Laing, who ruled that Mr Cash’s actions were merely those of an attorney passionately defending his client’s rights.
According to court documents, Mr Cash asserts that he was denied access to his client, Mermaid ‘Mervie’ Knowles, who was in custody at the time. He claims he was grabbed by the collar by a sergeant, dragged to the front desk, and placed in an unsanitary, overheated cell with limited access to restroom facilities and legal counsel. Mr Cash described the experience as humiliating and traumatic, causing post-traumatic stress and damage to his professional reputation, exacerbated by national media coverage of his arrest and prosecution.
In his filing, Mr Cash is seeking $11,390 in special damages to cover expenses such as airfare, car rental, accommodation, and legal representation related to the incident. Additionally, he is pursuing general, aggravated, exemplary, and vindicatory damages for alleged breaches of his constitutional rights under Articles 17, 19, 20, and 25 of the Constitution. The defendants, the Commissioner of Police and the Attorney General, are being sued in their official capacities under the Crown Proceedings Act.