KEN DORSETT IS FREE: COMPENSATION IS DUE
A statement was issued by the Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Franklin Williams on 11 March 2022 indicating that a writ of nolle prosequi had been issued in the matter of the case against Franklyn Williams. This is the last of the three politically inspired cases brought by the Free National Movement. Mr. Dorsett will be due substantial sums of money because of this failed prosecution.
The Director of Public Prosecutions said this:
For Immediate Release Statement on R vs Kenred Dorsett
In 2017, former Cabinet Minister Kenred Dorsett was arrested, and a number of charges were laid in relation to accusations of misconduct in public office. The witness Mr. Jonathan Ash indicated his intention to not testify. Therefore, the Director of Public Prosecutions having been advised by the Senior Officer having conduct of the matter signed a Nolle Prosequi in the matter of R vs Kenred Dorsett.
This means that the prosecution has insufficient evidence to proceed, and therefore the case is abandoned.
Here is how the press in The Bahamas described it
Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Franklyn Williams QC has stopped the politically motivated prosecution of former PLP Cabinet Minister Kenred Dorsett.
Dorsett, the former Minister of Environment and Housing, was accused of extortion and bribery by contractor Johnathan Ash in 2017.
The former PLP MP was paraded in front of the media ahead of his arraignment in the Magistrates Court in 2017.
However, the matter has been in limbo for over four years as the case never made it to trial.
Prosecutors, this morning, issued a nolle prosequi discontinuing the case.
Ash, the Crown’s key witness, was already discredited as a liar in the botched bribery and extortion trial of former PLP Cabinet Minister Shane Gibson, who was acquitted of all charges.
Under the leadership of DPP Garvin Gaskin, the government blew millions of dollars on political witch hunts.
The Minnis administration spent $1.1 million on the failed prosecutions of Gibson and former Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Senator Frank Smith, according to Attorney General Ryan Pinder.
“Between November 2017 and August 2021, the Office of the Attorney General, under the prior attorney general, spent some $3,457,688.18 in legal fees with its two primary foreign law firms in the United States and the United Kingdom,” Pinder said.