Court of Appeal Justices Sentenced Man to Three Days in Jail

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The Court of Appeal has decided that three days in prison is the appropriate sentence for an American gun convict, who was deemed too sick for jail. 

Ronald Ralph Moorhead Jr, 54 was leaving the country on June 21 when police arrested him at the Leonard Thompson International Airport in Abaco after a .380 pistol with five rounds of ammunition in his checked luggage. 

He pleaded guilty to possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition the same day and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.

However, Moorhead, who has a severe case of type one diabetes, was released from prison three days later on $10,000 cash bail pending appeal, after Acting Commissioner Doan Cleare swore an affidavit saying that the facility lacked the ability to manage his condition.

Cleare’s affidavit was crucial in the appellate’s court’s decision to quash the 12 month sentence and substitute it with the three days that Moorhead had already spent in custody.

However, the Court added that the sentence applied to Moorhead’s  peculiar circumstances.

“It is an extremely rare case where the institution which is responsible for the incarceration of convicted persons informs the Court that it lacks the capacity to properly manage and attend to the medical requirements of a specific person if he is given a custodial sentence,” Justice Jon Isaacs said when delivering the court’s ruling.

“That is a weighty and compelling factor, which must be considered when sentencing the person, together with all the circumstances surrounding the commission of the offence and the antecedents of the person.

“The outcome in this case does not mean that offenders generally will be meted out with the same or similar punishment in the future.”

Moorhead was represented by Christina Galanos and Stephanie Pintard was the prosecutor.