Chief Justice (ag) Roxanne George-Wiltshire today ordered that mediation takes place into the multi-million-dollar lawsuit which was filed against the State by a Jamaican woman who was wrongfully imprisoned.

The woman’s Attorney Darren Wade was seeking $10 million for every day that the woman was held in custody. She spent eight months in custody. The Chief Justice said the figure would be untenable.

54-year-old Jamaican national, Sandra Russell spent three and a half months behind bars on a marijuana conviction. But on her release, she was handed over to Immigration for deportation but was detained for an additional eight months.

The request for mediation was put forward by the Attorney General’s Chambers and the Chief Justice ordered same.

It was back in 2018 that the Jamaican pleaded guilty to the drug trafficking charge after being found with 70 grams of marijuana.

While she was relieved with the sentence handed down by the Court, she never expected that her time in custody would stretch to almost a year even after she was released from prison.

In her lawsuit, the woman complained about the condition of the prison and lock-up facilities for women and said she fell ill on a number of occasions. She contended that she was held against her will and found herself wrongfully imprisoned.

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