Back in 2008, there were international headlines about a New Jersey police officer who was shot while trying to save another tourist from being robbed at gunpoint in the Bahamas.
New Jersey police officer John Casper was shot in the chest while walking with friends on the Cable Beach strip. They were walking in the area of Ruby Avenue, near the residence of former prime minister Perry Christie.
Casper and his friends were vacationing in Nassau at the time. When a man with a gun jumped out and attempted to rob Casper’s friend, Joan Algios, Casper tried to prevent the crime.
Two men were arrested in that incident. In a much publicized trial aimed at thwarting any more bad press and scaring off tourists, one of the men, Ebenezer Sherman, 20, was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison for the attempted murder of Mr Casper.
Another man, Bradley Saunders, 24, was convicted and sentenced last November for the attempted armed robbery of Casper’s friend, Ms. Algios.
Now that the headlines have died down and Mr Casper has gone back to New Jersey thinking that justice has been accomplished, the corrupt legal games start.
Saunders and his attorney filed for an extension to appeal the conviction, even though the time for an appeal had lapsed.
Well, Saunders was in the Court of Appeal yesterday, where his request for an extension was granted.
Why?
The newspapers that reported this court decision do not mention the judge who granted the extension out of time.
Why not?
Probably because the entire situation was set up, created to make the bad press go away. Possibly, the two thugs agreed to “take the fall” for this crime in exchange for not being arrested on other crimes, and with the promise that they will be released after the press dies down.
Next move: watch for Ebenezer Sherman to get another day in court to reduce his sentence, or be released.
