Community service for attack on Marechaussee
PHILIPSBURG – A man who got into a violent argument with an officer of the Royal Marechaussee on November 10 of last year has to pay his victim $862 as compensation for medical expenses. The Court in First Instance also sentenced Sheldon Lee Gordon to 90 hours of community service. The public prosecutor’s demand was 120 hours of community service, a 4-week conditional prison sentence and 2 years of probation.
The confrontation between the two men occurred near the Tropicana Casino in Cole Bay. When Gordon was forced to walk through a gutter because of the way his later victim had parked his car, an argument ensued, whereby the Marechaussee allegedly said: “I have a gun and I can do some damage.”
When Gordon, 28, walked across the road to a supermarket, the Marechaussee followed him. Holding a cell phone in his hand, he told Gordon several times: “Let me take a picture of you if you are a big guy.”
The public prosecutor said that, based on eyewitness statements, video footage from the Tropicana Casino and the complaint filed by the Marechaussee that there is proof that Gordon ill-treated the man by throwing a steel pipe at him.
“The victim claims that the defendant made a shooting gesture with his hand but there is no proof for that,” the prosecutor said. “There is also not a single indication that the victim was the first to attack. This defendant has shown no remorse and no empathy for his victim; he claims self defense. He also does not want to attend anger management training and he does not want to do community service either.”
The prosecutor said that St. Maarten does not have a guideline for ill-treatment with a battle weapon (such as a steel pipe), but that in the Netherlands the guideline is 120 hours of community service.
The prosecutor asked the court to put Gordon under the supervision of the probation office and to apply the compensation regulation to the claim for damages.
Attorney Marlon Hart maintained that his client had acted out of self defense. “My client was being attacked and the victim did not let up. The victim sought the confrontation and my client was afraid.’
Hart asked the court to dismiss the charges against his client.
The judge dismissed the self-defense argument. “That requires an attack from the other side. He came towards you but he had not done anything yet; so no self defense, but the victim did play a part in this. He just kept going.”
The judge imposed community service and granted the claim for damages, but he did not follow the prosecution’s demand for a conditional prison sentence and its accompanying conditions.
