After a legal ordeal stretching back at least three years, interdicted police officers Simon Power and Pamphill Prevost walked free on March 14, each exonerated from a charge of conspiracy to steal after their lawyers made successful no-case submissions, according to attorney Israel Bruce, who represented Mr. Power.

Mr. Bruce told the Beacon that he and Terrence Williams, Mr. Prevost’s counsel, each submitted a no-case submission, and each was upheld by Justice Raymond C.S. Williams.

A no-case submission is made by a defence attorney to suggest that the Crown has not submitted sufficient evidence for the case to go any further, Mr. Bruce explained.

Even if the judge had rejected the no-case submissions and the trial had continued, Mr. Bruce said he was confident that his client and Mr. Prevost still would have been found innocent.

“I am satisfied that justice has held its course,” Mr. Bruce said, adding, “I believe that the judge has made the right decision.”

Trial history

During a 2019 trial, Messrs. Power and Prevost, along with Shawn Henry, faced charges of conspiracy to steal.

Messrs. Power and Prevost additionally faced charges of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, and Mr. Power alone faced the charge of being in possession of criminal proceeds, Mr. Bruce said.

During the trial, Justice Rajiv Prasad upheld a no-case submission on behalf of Mr. Henry, as well as a no-case submission on Mr. Power’s count of being in possession of criminal proceeds, Mr. Bruce said.

The trial then proceeded with Messrs. Power and Prevost facing charges of conspiracy to steal and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, according to the attorney.

In April 2019, a jury found the defendants not guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice but was hung on the count of conspiracy to steal, which was retried this year, Mr. Bruce said.

The allegations against Messrs. Power and Prevost stemmed from their involvement in cash seizures going back as far as 2012.