In a landmark ruling with profound implications for police accountability, High Court Justice Frank Seepersad has issued a powerful call for legislative reform to hold officers personally financially responsible for unlawful arrests. The January 20th decision came in the case of Jawanza Simmons, a Sangre Grande businessman who was wrongfully arrested and detained for 12 hours in 2019.
The court found that Special Reserve Constable Cleon Smith acted maliciously and beyond legal authority when he arrested Simmons outside the Shops of Cunapo on November 20, 2019. According to evidence presented, Simmons was merely smoking a cigarette and conversing with his brother when Smith approached without justification, slapped the cigarette from his hand, and demanded identification without stating any suspected offense.
Justice Seepersad described the officer’s conduct as “arbitrary and not rooted in the rule of law,” noting that speaking in a loud tone does not constitute disorderly conduct, and there was no reasonable basis for the resisting arrest charge. The court particularly condemned Smith’s repeated failure to appear in both magistrates’ and High Court proceedings, calling this non-cooperation “intolerable and unacceptable.”
The judge awarded Simmons $100,000 in total damages – $75,000 compensatory and $25,000 exemplary – to be paid by the state. However, Seepersad emphasized that taxpayers should not bear the burden of officer misconduct, recommending that legislation be amended to require offending officers to pay damages through salary deductions or forfeiture of accrued benefits.
Seepersad warned against what he described as a “frequent modus operandi” of threatening arrest without probable cause, stating that while Trinidad faces significant lawlessness, police must still exercise authority responsibly. “There is a saying that ‘fish often rots from the head,’” the judge noted, “so for the level of lawlessness to be addressed, there has to be cooperation between police and the public.”
The ruling represents a significant judicial challenge to police practices and accountability mechanisms, with the court explicitly urging parliamentary intervention to create meaningful consequences for officer misconduct.