A High Court in Antigua and Barbuda has stopped another attempt to take Jamaican citizen Methoni Vernon to trial for his alleged involvement in the murder of Roy Carridice on July 1, 2014.

Vernon faced allegations stemming from the murder of the 47-year-old farmer, who was attacked and shot multiple times during a robbery at his farm near the Cassada Gardens Race Track. Following the murder, police investigations quickly focused on Vernon and others, linking them to the shooting. But Vernon could not be located and so had not been charged until police extradited him from Dominica to Antigua and charged him with murder on August 24, 2017.

However, last week, Judge Tunde A. Bakre ruled that the manner in which state authorities removed Vernon from Dominica was fundamentally flawed and an abuse of process. Vernon, who had lived in Antigua and Barbuda since 2000, was detained in Dominica in January 2016 during a police search for “guns, drugs, and ammunition.” Instead of following standard deportation procedures, state officials opted for a rushed and opaque process that ultimately led to his forced transfer.

During that detention, he was informed that he would be deported to Jamaica—a decision he intended to contest, given his significant ties in Dominica, including a partner and child.

In his 44‐paragraph affidavit, Vernon contended that he was kidnapped under a disguised extradition or unlawful rendition. He described being taken from a Dominican cell to the airport in a car with four police officers, only to find himself on a flight that included Antiguan police officers. Once he arrived in Antigua, he was immediately arrested and later charged with murder.

A key point in the case arose from evidence provided by the prosecution. Court documents further revealed that informal arrangements were made between the Dominican and Antiguan authorities. A letter from former Police Commissioner Wendel Robinson, cited by Crown Counsel Curtis Cornelius, confirmed that Antigua and Barbuda officials had even purchased Vernon’s airline ticket: “informal arrangements were made to have him returned by the Dominican authorities who had him in police custody. ……………… that these arrangements included his airline ticket to Antigua being purchased by the Antigua and Barbuda authorities”

Despite initial reluctance from Bakre to rule in the matter, both Vernon’s attorney, Andrew O’Kola, and acting Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shannon Jones-Gittens, argued that the Court possessed inherent jurisdiction to examine the legality of Vernon’s removal and to prevent any abuse of its process. Citing legal precedents such as Bennett v. Horseferry Road Magistrate Court (1994) and The Queen v. Crawely and others (2014 EWCA Crim. 1018), they maintained that forcing Vernon to stand trial under these circumstances would be fundamentally unjust.

Judge Bakre concluded that the continuous prosecution of Vernon, given the alleged constitutional breach involved in his forceful removal from Dominica, would indeed amount to an abuse of the court’s process. “The prosecution of Methoni Vernon for the charge of murder is hereby declared an abuse of court process and the action is hereby stayed.” In his ruling, he stated that the process by which Vernon was brought into the jurisdiction was wrong and that to proceed with the trial would undermine justice.

A press release issued by Methoni Vernon’s legal team at OMO Law has called for greater

accountability and strict adherence to legal procedures in future extradition and immigration matters to prevent similar abuses from occurring.

Attorney O’Kola, condemned the authorities’ handling of the case, noting that States ought not to circumvent due process to achieve its objectives. “The immigration laws and procedures in both Dominica and Antigua were completely disregarded in what was a clear case of unlawful rendition. The proper legal channels exist for a reason, and the Court has rightly refused to condone this egregious violation of Mr. Vernon’s rights.”

He maintains that what occurred in this case was not a lawful deportation but a deliberate, unlawful transfer engineered by law enforcement authorities. “No matter how serious the allegations against an individual, the law must be followed. If the State wishes to prosecute someone, it must do so within the framework of lawful immigration and extradition procedures.”

State’s Argument

The State considers Vernon a suspect in Carradice’s murder, yet irregularities in his arrest and extradition led to the dismissal of that charge. The State argues that following the murder, Vernon attempted to flee Antigua illegally—leaving without using the airport and later entering Dominica unlawfully. In December 2015, credible information placed him in Dominica, and two Antiguan police officers, following orders from their Commissioner, accompanied him on a flight back to Antigua without taking him into custody until after landing. Local Dominican authorities were unaware of any formal deportation process, prompting affidavits to clarify the situation, although efforts to secure a statement from then-Police Commissioner Wendel Alexander were unsuccessful.

Upon his return, Vernon was charged with murder. The trial, which began in 2018, focused initially on a voir dire examining a statement in which Vernon allegedly admitted to participating in a robbery and mentioned that while he fired a shot, his accomplice fired more—a statement he claimed was coerced by police. The prolonged voir dire ended with the judge accusing Vernon’s counsel of misconduct and collusion with police, leading to a mistrial.

The case was set for retrial amid ongoing legal wrangling. Vernon was granted bail in 2023, and after several changes in legal representation—including attorney O’Kola’s initial engagement, a brief period with Vere Bird III, and then O’Kola’s return—a retrial was scheduled for July 1, 2024. However, on June 27, O’Kola filed an application to halt the proceedings on grounds of abuse of process, arguing that Vernon’s return to Antigua was unlawful.

A December 5, 2024, hearing then focused on these claims, with support from a 2023 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights report that detailed alleged human rights violations, critiqued the State’s response, and examined the admissibility of the claims.