Makai Dickerson’s Cannabis Charges Dropped
Charges against Makai Dickerson were dropped this morning [Jan 3] in Magistrates Court. He previously appeared on charges of possessing of 0.45gm of cannabis, and the Magistrate adjourned the case at that time with it appearing Mr Dickerson was to receive a police caution.
Appearing before Senior Magistrate Archie Warner in Court today, Mr Dickerson was represented by lawyer Marc Daniels. The Crown said that it would offer no evidence, the Senior Magistrate then ruled that the case was dismissed and that Mr Dickerson was discharged.
Mr Dickerson was previously scheduled to serve as a PLP candidate in the 2012 General Election, however stepped down after the news of his cannabis possession came to light.
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Good thing I’m black and voted for PLP. Maybe my charges will get dropped too.
If we can have a roach who stole/sold drugs as a Tourism Minster then Makai is the least of your worries BERMUDA.
hmmm….. that was a past mistake…… in fairness to him, he went on and endowed himselfwith education to overcome the wrongs of his past….
This is a good outcome, and should be applied CONSISTENTLY. No one should be charged for less than half-a-gram of herb.
The difference here is that Makai initially denied any involvement with the herb he was caught with… that is why the matter went to court rather than being dealt with as a police caution on the first go. If he had taken responsibility for his actions in the first place we would not be reading about this now…. (sound familiar?)
maybe its good we had a change of Govt when considering this situation….no accusations of pulling strings!
AGREED!
Still doesn’t mean anything. The strings could have been pulled/check written before the PLP lost power.
Either herb is legal or illegal…it can’t go both ways!
I agree…sending mixed messages.
It should be legal, but that’s a direct slap in the face to the tourists who had their vacations ruined.
Why can’t it go both ways? It can be legal up to a certain amount… And besides, it’s a plant for crying out loud. and a herb at that…
I guess all those tourists will no longer need to worry if they have a small amount on them? Or is being let-off the special reserve of those with political clout?
You just broke the code!!!!
This is the right outcome and I see people still assume. The police interpreted Makai’s press statement and made that decision, they didn’t make that decision to send him to court based on any police statement. It is not his fault this went to court he gave an explanation to the press as he was hard pressed to considering the position he was in. This is why matters like this should not be placed in the media until proper protocol has been met.
Soooo all we have to do is deny it, go to court and call a press confernece to get out of charges? Great news, thanks for letting us know.
yeah well if he gets off so should the others in the past with small amounts they need to check their records and those people need to have their charges dropped as well NOW
This should have never gone to court in the first place. OBA plants in the BPS. 100% political and 100% BS!
If a warning is suppose to be given for small amounts of weed, Why does it matter who it belong to…OBA do the right thing a make it a Law, not leave to the discretion of the police, so the police can do some real work and stop wasting, the people money and the court’s time…
Are you really serious? So just because somebody wants to smoke herb which grows naturally on our Earth they should be legally penalized? That person would have to forfeit travel to the United States and give up an overseas college education because they want to inhale or ingest a natural growing plant? Please Rhonda your archaic logic is the reason why this island hasn’t evolved.
I bet he’s just thankful he wasn’t a tourist on a cruise ship.
I know someone recently caught with 1 JOINT,got charged and given a fine!!!! How is this fair ???? If marijuana is illegal it should be illegal for everyone. Bermuda courts are ridiculous!!!!!!!!!
AGRRRRRREEEEED!!!!
If it’s illegal, IT’s ILLEGAL! Doesn’t matter the quantity. Argh! Shameful….
This adds to why so many get angry – there is no fairness on this island in the Legal System. Backwards.
Legalize iT!
i have concerns of others who have been caught with small amounts because the law needs to check their records and drop the charges on all the other people as well whats good for one good for all.
Happy his charges were dropped but others need to be dropped as well
Exactly…. Make a decision and stick with it. If you’re going to bend the rules, it should apply to all. Otherwise expect & accept those citizens that want to bend too
Others charges have been dropped. The caution law has been in place for two years. If you have a small amount (like Makai had), have no prior convictions (like Makai had none) and take responsibility (like Makai did) then you are most likely to receive a caution.
This was purely $otovated politically to have been dragged this far and if Makai wasn’t who he was you would never have heard of this. There have been many cautioned in the last two years, you don’t hear of them because they are never charged. This was a result of being in the public eye. Now he can move on from this.
I agree. I hope he can move on also….I don’t understand why people are acting like hes the only one to ever have his charges dropped. It happens all the time just that not all cases get publicized.
Makai DID NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. He denied the drug was his which is why this went so far. His fault – not a Police or Political conspiracy. This has been well documented in all local media.
The caution law has been around for more than 10 years. Police can give discretion based on the amount a person is caught with and a review of previous records.
I’m not surprised. now he can take the money that he would have had to pay a fine with and get his little earlobes fixed. LOL
Childish…….
lmfao
Why don’t u all……i.e. the people and press all gu. what about praising the young black man for the things that he does do right instead of lashing him for the “small” things that he does wrong. I’m not condoning it, but this seems to be what happpens in most cases where young people are trying to do RIGHT for once in their lives.
One “bad” (and only “bad” because we’re told it is) can erase all the good a person has done. Sad really. I think I’ll go smoke some hallucinagenic salvia and drive my car since its legal… I’m not really, just pointing out how moronic some people can be. I hope everyone involved with making laws gets cancer, suffer like my family members have.
True
This is beyond irritating. I know enough people who have gotten caught with less and are on the stop list. Bermuda’s Judicial System is SHXT . SMH
How do you get caught with an illegal drug and get charges dis charged? Let me get caught with a little herb , Im printing this article out and telling the police kiss my azzzzzzz #LEAVEMEALONE
Lmao.. but completely agree
Well i guess this starts the precident that under a gram of weed should be viewed as caution… next is to stop wasting court time and receive caution from on the spot policeman.
COME ON OBA lets make a Change lets move forward. We are getting left behind when it comes to Marijuana
If people mine there own, the world would be a better peaceful place! All this attention over a bag of marijuana? Now you guys want to crucify the brotha, just wrong! If you were charged with a bag of marijuana, 9 times out of 10 you probably did something worser then that and never got caught and it was a sign from God telling you to slow the Hell doen. Just my own personal belief.
@ damaga287: Not trying to “crucify the brotha”, people are complaining about the courts and their uneven, sometimes appearing whimsical sentencing “structure.” In fact, most of the time, there doesn’t appear to be any structure at all. This is a real and ongoing source of concern.
Agreed.
This is nothing new, giving a caution for a small amount of marijuana has been in place for awhile now. It hinges on several factors, most of all admitting guilt. Yes, possession is still illegal but it’s no different from being caught speeding and the police giving you a warning instead of a ticket. It is nothing to do with politics, this case only went so far because he denied it. And for the people crying out about the stop list, that is another matter altogether. The local authorities have no control over who goes on the so called “stop list.”
Correct VJ
BULL$H*T….Ya get more time for herb den murder. Wah bout all de otha people locked up/charged for de same small piece. BDA courts is a joke!!
difference is…. the “others” are let go on the SPOT!!!
All those that have complained about others that have been caught and are on the stop list all used the same word in your comment….PAST…..
Just so you know Bermuda does NOT have a STOP LIST….that is US based and one CAN travel once their waiver is approved….Makai is not the ONLY one to have charges dropped…..Many others have been ‘cautioned’ which appears to be the PRESENT thing and it has just not been presented in the media……If Makai was not running for a seat during the election or if had said it was his (even if it wasn’t) it would not have been an issue and would not have made it into the paper…
Rather simple matter as explained by the BPS,had Makai just accepted responsibility at the get go then this would have been a non story. Make this a lesson to all who chose to indulge, man up if caught with a lil spliff.
This is an acceptable outcome, however, let’s hope the DPP and judges are neither arbitrary nor selective when determining which infractions to prosecute and/or dismiss going forward.
@ Tricks are For Kids so true. The sad thing is some know this and some don’t. Some don’t even know their rights. This never should have went to court, and how many of those people who where convicted with small amounts had a lawyer representing them? Well I have followed this and know Makai personally, we are close and he had two lawyers representing him. That makes a difference when people are trying to put a shady spin to things. You all don’t even know much about what you speak.
By the way I don’t know why so many of you wished he would be put on the stop list, he is half American so can’t be put on the stop list anyway. (Duel Citizenship) Like I said if it wasn’t for who he is this never would have went public and we wouldn’t be talking about it. Many have been cautioned in the last two years with more then he had and their cases never reported. Why should he be treated differently if he qualified for a caution? You help nobody by condemning him simply because who he is.
Typical BDA. We have laws on everything which we do not enforce. Then we wonder why the fabric of our society is disintehrating….
“We set ourselves a very low standard which we consistently fail to attain.”
Either change the stupid law or abide by it. This type of nonsense simply gives the nod to breaking all the other laws – like speeding, tinted windows, running red lights, dangerous driving, drunk driving, carrying guns, fog lights on etc…get the picture? It all starts with the little things and escalates from there…
Wonder how much his lawyer ‘fined’ him? He should have admitted possession, gotten off with a warning, no muss, no fuss. In a couple weeks all would be forgotten. But no, he pulls an ‘I am special’ which blows up in his face.
Does this mean he can travel to the u.s.?
They just should decriminalize it
This is nothing new, giving a caution for a small amount of marijuana has been in place for awhile now. It hinges on several factors, most of all admitting guilt. Yes, possession is still illegal but it’s no different from being caught speeding and the police giving you a warning instead of a ticket. It is nothing to do with politics, this case only went so far because he denied it. And for the people crying out about the stop list, that is another matter altogether. The local authorities have no control over who goes on the so called “stop list.”
This is nuts! The substance is ILLEGAL – there should be consequences…..this is pathetic
It’s only illegal because of racist Americans setting laws many years ago. Marijuana is Gods creation. Is God illegal?
Why are you dragging America-let alone “racist” America into this? Bermuda is not under American law. Let us start there. Now, you go ahead and explain to us your logic from there. We are waiting with anticipation!
Um…because thats where the prohibition of marijuana stems from. Look up the names Harry J. Aslinger and William Randolf Hearst. Hearst owned one of the biggest newspaper chains in America and rather than switch his printing presses from paper to hemp, he used his newspaper to spread propaganda about the plant saying that blacks and Mexicans used marijuana and were raping and killing white women. Like some people say, America sneezes, we catch a cold. We aren’t under American law but we are very similar. I believe some call it the western philosophy. America intoduced the no cell phone while driving law. Who soon followed? In the early 1800s it was illegal NOT to grow hemp. Just a few men and greed changed the course of the world, lived rich and aren’t around to see the damage caused. Today we cut down, in mass amounts, the very trees that provide life for us. Marijuana plants produce 2x more oxygen than normal trees but we made the best and fastest growing one illegal and cut the rest down (because that makes sense right?). You didn’t happen to be wondering why the polar ice caps are melting did you? They aren’t under American law. Moral of this story… Humans are retarded…or greedy and can’t seem to think further ahead than their life span.
As a side note, on the topic of racism, the prohibition of marijuana had a dual effect. At the start of prohibition who was most likely to use marijuana? Backs and Mexicans. Don’t like them? How do you get rid of them? Lock them in cages. The “war on drugs/marijuana” is not about drugs at all, its about demonizing and criminalizing an unwanted segment of the population and scaring the rest. In the 1930s people didn’t know much about marijuana. An article printed during that time warned people of marijuana and said it would bring murder insanity and death…none of which are true, but mostly everyone believed it.
Today who benefits the most from marijuana prohibition? Your friendly pharmaseutical companies. If marijuana were to become legal these companies would take a multi billion dollar hit since university studies have found that the compounds found in marijuana could replace over 400 SYNTHETIC medications. Clearly most of us enjoy the harmful side effects of the drugs we use from pharmacies. The very drugs that keep you alive long enough to suck the money out of your pocket because there is no profit in cures. At the end of the day its all about greed.
bringing religion into this is a shot in the foot from the start..stick to hard evidence mate..scientifically proven evidence which our government is rejecting.
god is not illegal..but it does seem a bit unnatural to make nature against the law…logic unfortunately doesn’t seem to be big on the requirements for being a MP.
God is supposed to be illegal when it comes to law, so should leave him out of it!
So if beef was illegal for no good reason you would abide by the law? If yes, that’s where you and I are different because I’d stick 2 middle fingers to the law and have a bbq…steak for everyone. Um um like is right, marijuana is illegal because it didn’t benefit the white man at the time (I’m “white”, I guess some would call it). I don’t believe in god so I can’t say its cool because he made it, but look at the scientific facts, and no not the ones provided by your “honest” government or a pharmaseutical companies (who benefits most off of its prohibition). Look at independant sources like university studies. Before you go pn about it being a mind altering drug, stop eating for a week and let me know how you feel. If you get irritable I’d say you have an addiction to food according to that logic. ANY substance put into the body will alter your mind. Its a natural plant that is edible, so I don’t want to hear the poison ivy BS either. Oh its the law, obey it…f#@kin retards. That’s how governments get you to do what THEY want you to do. I run my life and if I don’t hurt anyone in the process then f*&^ off. Plain and simple.
i think this outcome should be consistent for all first time offenders moving forward. This is a progressive decision by the police, dpp and the judge. For far to long we have caused young bermudians the opportunity to travel and improve their employment opportunities because they are on the ‘banned list’ for a joint. The plp should have done this long ago as it affected their supporters the most.
shouldn’t have gone to the courts..and i put some blame on BPS..use your god d$%n discretion..who cares if he told you it wasnt his..you should be using your time wisely BPS and not even bothering with small amounts..its as simple as closing the cigarette box and giving it back to him…waste of time and money enforcing the draconian laws governing a plant.
@ Will-They can’t just “give it back to him.” You make me laugh. This is a way that the police are giving people a break for a SMALL amount of weed, if you ADMIT it. What more do you want? If you want to deny it, then you have blown your chance and you have to tell it to the judge. So what are you saying, the police should drop all their procedures and dump the weed in the streets or hand it back to you and let you go on your merry little way? You sound absolutely foolish!!! They give an inch and people still want to take a mile!!! Just no pleasing some people!!!
It is amazing that the once illegal alcohol now has proud and and flourishing business men on Front Street. Interesting how weed is so illegal former PLP give the number one singer collie buddz an advocate and smoker of weed a contract, It is all hyprocritcal and pathetic. Yet the real drug pushers up at MAWI you will never even hear a peep about regardless of the amount of mercury in their drugs to keep them like zombies and putting 10 year old children especially boys on ritalin. Bullcrap
hmmm
Makai’s Statement after the case was dismissed.
“I am grateful to the people of Bermuda who have shown me so much support in what has truly been a challenging and difficult period in my life. It is not easy to be the subject of public ridicule, but I appreciate that I am wholly responsible for my actions and shall do the best that I can to improve as a man and a member of our beloved society. I am genuinely thankful to the Bermuda Police Service personnel who reviewed my case and determined that the matter was best left to a caution. We all can fall short in this journey called life, whether it is the result of making mistakes or simply making poor decisions. I pray that I never find myself in a similar situation which can cause damage to my personal reputation as well as those who stand by me and support me. I am also thankful to the Crown and to the Court for the professional manner in which they dealt with my case. I am keen to put this matter behind me so that I may continue to work in the community and be of service to the people of Bermuda. I have publicly spoken as an advocate for law reform as it pertains to cannabis under the Misuse of Drugs Act and I hope that I may continue to serve in this capacity such that others may be spared the ridicule and severe punishments that can be passed for breaches of such laws. This is not to say that I condone any of my actions or seek to make excuses, but I hope that my experience can be a lesson for others, in particular our government, as it relates to a very real issue within our community”.