The High Court has awarded Dillon Peters $300,000 in damages after ruling in his favour in a malicious prosecution lawsuit against the Attorney General over criminal charges that took 14 years to conclude.
Madame Justice Sherlanne Pierre delivered the ruling on Wednesday in claim CV2022-00005, awarding Peters $250,000 in damages and a further $50,000 in exemplary damages, together with interest and prescribed costs.
The case arose from criminal charges brought against Peters in 2002, including serious sexual and firearm offences.
The criminal proceedings ended in his favour in 2016, after approximately 14 years.
During the civil trial, Peters testified and was cross-examined.
At the close of his case, the State submitted that there was no case to answer and elected not to call any witnesses.
However, the judge found that Peters had presented evidence addressing the circumstances surrounding the initiation and continuation of the prosecution, rather than simply maintaining his innocence.
His testimony included claims that forensic testing had failed to link him to the sexual offences, that no gunpowder residue was found on him and that no firearm was recovered from his person.
Although Peters did not produce the forensic reports to support his claims, the judge ruled that his testimony raised issues requiring a response from the State.
The court also noted that the State’s own pleaded case referred to forensic results and that witnesses who could have addressed the evidence were available to testify.
Justice Pierre concluded that the State’s decision not to call those witnesses strengthened Peters’s case sufficiently to establish liability on the balance of probabilities.
In determining the damages, the court considered the seriousness of the charges, the lengthy prosecution and Peters’ evidence that he had spent approximately 20 days in custody.
The judge also took into account the conditions of his detention, as well as the humiliation and distress he experienced during the proceedings.
The court further determined that exemplary damages were justified, bringing the total award to $300,000, excluding interest and prescribed costs.
