Authorities investigating the shooting in a house on Pendant Cactus Road in Sucker Garden on March 9, 2020.
PHILIPSBURG--After a lengthy procedure, which started with a first court hearing on June 24, 2020, the judge ruled Tuesday in the criminal case against the suspect J.B., who on March 9, 2020, when he was sixteen years old, emptied a firearm at four young people in a home on Pendant Cactus Road in Sucker Garden. One of these youngsters, Jordanio J. Bakmeijer was killed in the attack.
Contrary to the prosecutor’s demand, who called for a prison sentence of 16 years for murder, three attempted murders and firearm possession, the Court of First Instance decided not to treat the young defendant, who turned 18 in November 2021, as an adult, but to sentence him to placement in a juvenile institution for mandatory intensive forensic psychological treatment – referred to by the Dutch acronym PIJ – for a duration of two years. The judge awarded damages to the injured party to the amount of US $4,840.38.
Appeal
As the sentence was significantly different from the Prosecutor’s Office’s OM’s demand, the prosecution immediately appealed this verdict.
“The OM believes this verdict does not do justice to the victims, nor their families, and sends a wrong signal to society. The OM does not agree that a sentence to only psychological treatment for two years, with the possibility of an extension to maximum six years, is sufficient for the magnitude of a crime that claimed one life and severely and irreparably injured another victim in the shootout. Furthermore, in the exceptional case, the minor should have been tried as an adult due to the severity of the crime and the lack of responsibility and remorse shown by the defendant,” the Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
St. Maarten’s current Penal Code came into effect in 2015, and with it PIJ. However, the adult equivalent of PIJ, referred to by the Dutch acronym TBS, did not. A PIJ measure cannot be combined with a prison sentence.
At present, there is no institution in St. Maarten that provides forensic psychological treatment, nor has the government designated one.
The Prosecutor’s Office said it is working with the Ministry of Justice and the Netherlands to find possibilities for this type of forensic treatment for minors and adolescents. “One of the key elements is that resocialization should take place in the country of origin,” the OM said.
Traumatic event
The 20-year-old male victim in this case was shot four times – once in the jaw, once in the chest and twice in the shoulder. The young woman was shot in the head and in the hip. Both were rushed to St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC), where they were given emergency medical care. The man succumbed to his injuries at the hospital about an hour after the shooting.
The woman was in critical condition and was flown to Colombia, where she stayed in a coma for quite some time. She is permanently blind in her right eye, can no longer hear with her left ear and has lost her sense of taste and smell. The woman and two other young victims, who were also in the room but were not hit by bullets and survived the attack, are all suffering because of this traumatic event.
In total, the suspect fired six gunshots. He tried to fire more shots, but could not continue the shooting because he either ran out of ammunition or because his firearm jammed.
B. denied his involvement in the shooting and did not provide a motive for his acts. His lawyer pleaded for his acquittal and pleaded for her client to be admitted into a PIJ institution.
In sentencing, the court adopted the conclusion of an expert psychologist and psychiatrist who both said that the defendant could only partially be held accountable for his acts.
Personal development
At this moment, B. is detained in Miss Lalie Youth Care and Rehabilitation Center, where he is making progress in his personal development. A lengthy prison sentence without further guidance or treatment does not benefit the suspect. Moreover, the risk of recidivism remains unacceptably high, the judge stated.
On June 1, 2015, the new Penal Code of St. Maarten came into force, which imposes the obligation on the minister of Justice to assign the implementation of a PIJ measure to an institution to be regulated by national ordinance.
Based on the Penal Code, the minister can advise as to where and in which way the PIJ measure should be implemented.
“One option is to start the PIJ measure in the Netherlands, so that the government of St. Maarten has time to designate by national ordinance an establishment suitable for implementation of the PIJ measures. The resocialization of the suspect can then take place here,” according to the judge.
The judge urged government and the Prosecutor’s Office to take strides in the implementation of PIJ measures to prevent B.’s release due to lack of space in an institution.
