True Story - Judge I. D. Mitchell, The Gunmen & the narrow escape

Ian Donaldson Mitchell was a Eastern Supreme Court Judge, who later was appointed to and served on the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal as a Appeal Court judge. However, before his appointment to the appeal court; he was assigned to and he faithfully serve the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the capacity of a Supreme Court Judge in both civil and the criminal Jurisdictions. Justice Mitchell is small in stature, who always carries a pleasant smile on his face. He is a well-read man and in my opinion, the brightest of the judge, who have served the Eastern Caribbean Court system. He was quite a humble fellow and very down to earth.

By this time in my police career, I have had several Short and Mid-term assignment with the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, but never a long term assignment. I particularly like those short assignments, because they give me a break from the regular grins and the controversies, I seems to be prone to, while I performed regular duties. Controversies like the Kusu incident or getting my jaw broken. Like everything else, I took my assignment serious. I was not going to be the guy whose judge got injured and or killed on my watch. So unlike the other guys who were also assigned, I did a lot of leg and ground work, like going to places beforehand, to see if there is a security risk to my judge, what they are; the best way to eliminate those risk or how avoid any unseen risk. Escape route and alternate route were also considered.

With Justice Mitchell I had to be even more cautious than normal, for the simple fact; Justice Mitchell had a long term assignment in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, that means he will be dealing with a wide range of criminal and civil matters, and for every case, there will be a disgruntled litigant in the civil cases; those litigant against whom he found; and in criminal cases, those defendant who was found guilty by a jury and who he had the lawful authority to sentence according to the law etc.

As a result, when Justice Mitchell were required to go anywhere, be it upon an invitation or on his own accord, I will pay that place a visit, check out the place, speak to the people there, so on our arrival he got first class treatment, because on sight of his vehicle; the proprietor of the business, police on duty at an official function, or the people who extend an invitation will be there to welcome us and to ensure that all goes smooth. Justice Mitchell always says to me, Mr. Palmer, it seems like you know everyone, every place and every thing on the island. It is not that I knew everyone and every place, it meant that I did my home work to ensure we experience very little of no inconvenience if it was possible.

When my other colleagues and their assigned judges, would suffer the inconvenience of looking for entrance, seating order and other information, I always ensured that such is taken care of prior to my arrival at a function. Even when Justice Mitchell choose to attended local functions like Culture Pot in Calliaqua, although he told me not to; when I asked if I should notify the organizers that he was coming. However, because I understood the dynamics of the place and the gang thing that was raising its ugly head at the time in Calliaqua, I informed the management of the Calliaqua Police Station that the judge will be going to Culture Pot, ensuring the event was properly patrolled, and I also informed certain members of the organizer, letting them be mindful they are not to know that he was attending because that was his wish. However, on arrival, Justice Mitchell and Maggie his wife was quickly ushered and seated.   

Unknowing to most people, Justice Mitchell was a dear devil in his own rights, a man of tremendous courage. Had it not been for an injury which he had recently recovered from, I believed Justice Mitchell would have accompanied me on some of my roller blading expedition, if he thought he would have gotten away with it, without raising too much eyebrows. Justice Mitchell love to hike and we have hiked up to the St. Vincent and the Grenadines volcano the La Soufriere on several occasion, we have hike most of the hiking trail on the island of St. Vincent.

When the court was on summer break, I organized the summer program The Adventurers Hiking Program; Justice Mitchell actually participated in the program. Justice Mitchell took off his judge’s robe, put on his regular guy persona and he had fun, scratching in the dirt with the children who participated in the program; while insisting that the children called him Don. However, the participants followed my lead and always referred to him as Justice Mitchell. After all they have all seen him in his office, sitting behind his big mahogany Judges desk, dressed in his imposing judges robe; the kids were in awe when the met Justice Mitchell. These were same children who a week earlier had the honor and the privilege of paying The Judge turn hiker, an official visit and speak with him in his chamber; after which he give them a tour of his court room.  The photo of Supreme Court Judge: Justice Mitchell on a summer hiking program was deemed to be news worthy enough to make the front page of the Search Light News Paper.

Justice Mitchell was a very tactful man, when he realized that I was a practicing Christian, he told me that he and his wife Maggie did not believe in God. I did not pursue that topic any further; however, from his life style, I will declare that there was not a better Christian man than Mr. I. D. Mitchell. He was thoughtful, kind, he loves to sharing. I could remember my first Christmas assigned to Justice Mitchell, he and his wife was going to spend Christmas in Anguilla, the place where his parent settled having left Montserrat and the place where he called home. Mr. Mitchell handed me an envelope and said merry Christmas. Upon opening that envelope, I was shock to see a check with my name on it with the equivalent of my salary.

However, Putting Justice Mitchell’s personality aside; I am aware that law school is a haven that introduces many young law students into the devil worship occult, and he may very well have been speaking the truth. I honestly think that it was just the Judge’s way of not having to be worried with me trying to have him and his wife, unwillingly accompanying me to church. There was no better way to save a confrontation religion always brings.

Mr. Mitchell also loves and was an avid snorkeler (diving without the assistance of scuba breathing apparatus). Although he is a scuba diver, the water around the sea course of St. Vincent and the Grenadines do not required Scuba diving equipment to explore the beauty of the Marine world below the surface of the sea.

The same curiosity that cause Justice Mitchell to research tons of information that he may never use, information he will share with me randomly, was the same curiosity that cause us to go on so many crazy expeditions that I never thought of going on. We will be driving along a particular place and the Judge will see a mountain range or a body of sea water and he will ask. Mr. Palmer have you ever swam in that area, have you every climb to the top of that mountain; most of the time my answer was no. Then he always searchingly asks, I wonder what type of plants or what the wild life on that mountain or what it is like up there? or I wonder what type of sea creature or fish would be found there. That was an initiation of a hike or a dive to some strange place that I have never had the desire to go to.

I was always game, and my reply was the same each time, well if you will like to know what is there, I could organize a hike or a diving expedition for you to see what is happening there. That is how I was afforded the pleasure of snorkeling even around the island in Chateaubelair islet; it was all because of the Judge’s curiosity.  To ensure that he kept me interested in participating in these crazy adventures, after we had accomplished one such adventure the judge, the people who went on the expedition and I will visit the popular neighborhood restaurant and we will all have lunch on Justice Mitchell’s expense. We were required to order anything on the menu and Justice Mitchell insisted that we don’t be shy.

My friend Garwin Philips, who was also a police officer, the noted body builder, was always guest on these expeditions. I selected Garwin because we were good friends, and he was a very intimidating fellow. He was my back up in the event something went wrong. My son Malique and his mother were often apart of the party that participated in these adventures.

When the Mitchell's had foreign guess, was a prime time for weekend expeditions. It was the Judges opportunity to show his guess a good time and to give them a taste of what he was up to, on the island. On this occasion Justice Mitchell had a guess by the name of Tom Scott, from Scotland, Mr. Scott was a good fellow, this is a man who ought not to be trusted with a secret. For the simple fact no information was safe with Mr. Scott. Mr. Scott was a free spirit, he did what he wanted to and he said what he wanted to without looking over his shoulder. These were good and admirable qualities but they could be dangerous also. It was from Mr. Scott that I got a little peep into the judge financial holding and I could not believe that Mr. Mitchell was that wealthy.

Mr. Scott’s visit to the Mitchell's, only meant one thing, Hiking, smocking and other adventures. Our first outing was a trip to the La Soufriere Volcano. We left Kingstown early one Sunday morning for Georgetown, from where we were going to climb up the mountain, that leads to the volcano. While we were on the journey, we came upon a tree that had fallen across the mud track that is the regularly used trail to climb up the steep mountain. On the east there was freshly cut shrubs, however the freshly cut chub led to a well beaten track. We ponder if we should climb over the fallen tree or used the newly revealed trail. It was suggested that the new track may have been cut to get around the tree by the forestry department or it could be a whole new road to the volcano.

So we all decided to see where the track will take us. On this trip I also had my son Malique with me. At this stage he was about seven years old. While we were walking we came upon a plateau, on the top of the mountain. I stood up at the end of the dirt track that emptied out onto the plateau, because I have never seen anything like this before. While I stood observing to ensure I did not take the judge and my son into a dangerous situation; Mr. Scott fearlessly walked passed me, and he walked directly on to the plateau, amazed with the beauty of the place and the discovery, he looked around, not just by moving his head, but by turning his entire body around, with both of his hands outstretched and in the air, at the same level of his head; whiles loudly repeating the words: "have you seen this?" three or four times.

One would have thought that Mr. Scott was claiming the land, in the name of the Queen of Scotland; In the same manner I imagine Christopher Columbus would have done. By this time, I had already signaled the other members of the hiking party to get down, which they all did sensing that something was amiss from my behavior. I was whisperingly shouting at Mr. Scott, instructing him to come back into the wooded area. Mr. Scott was not paying any attention to what was going on, comfortable in his own little world he simply ignored me; no one was going to spoil this moment for him.

He was still soaking up the beauty of the place, this time his hands had changed position, he now had both of his hands on his hips, looking around not with his head but still turning his entire body around as if he was afraid that his knees or his back will miss the view, while still declaring in amazement; "what have we here." Even when he realized that he was the only one in the open and everyone else was hiding behind the trees trying not to be detected, he asked what going on, have you seen this.  I had to leave the safety of the shelter the trees, shrubs and bushes of the forest that concealed my presence; run into the marijuana field and forcefully pushed Mr. Scott out of the field. Reluctantly and resisting my effort to take him back into the covers of the forest where he was declaring at the top of his voice what is going on! What is going on!

Angry at Mr. Scott’s refusal to follow instructions, which almost endangered the life of the entire hiking party; including my son Malique whom I had a fatherly obligation to, and the judge whose safety I had a professional responsibility for. We were not out of the woods as yet, because I did not know if we were seen by the owner of the marijuana field. One thing you must consider is Marijuana farmers are very protective of their fields, because there are field raiders who will steal the crop in an unsupervised field. Marijuana field robbing is the primary cause of missing people in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. However, when I was assured that all was safe, I was very angry; because of the callousness of an adult had almost jeopardized the life of people on the hike include my son; but I kept my calm.

We return to the original rout, climb over the fallen tree and continued up the mountain. While we were almost to the top of the mountain, we noticed there were three men each carrying sacks of fertilizers on their head. While we were struggling to get to the top of the La Soufriere, up come three marijuana farmers, carrying fifty pound sacks of fertilizer on their heads; they effortlessly walked pass us going up the steep mountain. The first thing Mr. Scott did was to indiscreetly took out his camera, and began to take pic of the men.

I quickly made my way to Mr. Scott and I told him he cannot do that. I informed him that the guys carry firearms and we are miles away from help. I further explained that these guys are marijuana farmers, which is illegal and they may not want their photo graphs to be taken and publicized; they may even be wanted. It was at this time I took the time to have a serious talk with Justice Mitchell about his guess.

I took the time to bring the seriousness of Mr. Scott’s actions to the Judge's attention. I told Justice Mitchell my responsibility is to him: as the judge and not his guess, I further told him, if Mr. Scott’s behavior get us into trouble, If I have to; I will sacrifice him to ensure that I do not default on my responsibility to you and my son and I will do it without thinking twice. I said Justice Mitchell you need to have a serious talk with Mr. Scott. At this time Mr. Mitchell pulled his friend and house guest Mr. Scott aside and had a serious talk with him. As a result, we made it back to base without any major incident.

The next weekend, we were off to take Mr. Tom Scott to the Falls of Baleine. To get to the Falls of Baleine, it is a very difficult four hours of hiking, from the most northern village of Fancy, through rugged interior to get to The falls. That is one way. So I organized my cousin Hunchie, a seine fisherman, to use one of his boats to take us to The falls of Baleine; however, by boat it is not a long ride. We got to Baleine, safe and sound, there was about six other boats at Baleine with people who went to enjoy the beauty of nature that Baleine offers. I recognized some of the people who were gathered there, picnicking and enjoying nature and the company of friends. We were having a good time, Mr. Scott was at his best behavior he was good at making friends and he made friends with some of the people who were picnicking there.  He was truly having a good time.

We were there for about an hour and a half and we were having a good time; however, something did not sit well with me and I did not know what was wrong. I looked around but nothing was out of place, yet my gut told me that something was not right. Because Malique was on the trip, I was not going to take any chances, I rather error on the side of caution.

Mr. Tom Scott, Justice Mitchell’s friend was in his element, he had made friends with some of the people there and he had their attention. I located Hunchie and I told him let’s get ready to leave, Hunchie thought the decision to leave was a little premature, because it was a beautiful day and it was quite early. While Hunchie was getting the boat ready to leave, I went and I told Justice Mitchell it was time to leave, Justice Mitchell trusted my judgment and he did not questioned my decision, I went and I informed Mr. Scott that it is time to leave. It was a difficult task getting Mr. Scott away from his appreciative audience. As usual Mr. Scott put up a fight, what do you mean it is time to leave he asked in protest, I had no justify reason to give Mr. Scott but I repeated the words to Mr. Scott and I walked in the direction of the boat, making sure Malique was with me.

By this time Mr. Scott, went back to entertaining his audience, I went to Justice Mitchell and I informed him, If Mr. Scott does not get on board the boat now we are going to leave him behind. The Judge quickly went and summoned Mr. Scott who reluctantly complied with the instruction of his friend the Judge. By this time the boat was partly in the water, Malique, the Judge and Mr. Scott boarded the boat, Hunchie and I push the boat into the water and away from the shore, then I boarded, and Hunchie, give the final push and jumped into the boat. Hunchie started the small outboard engine and we began to head away from the beach. Then Justice Mitchell said Mr. Palmer look something is happening back there, do you know what is going on. I briefly looked back, unfortunately I did not care. My fatherly responsibility was safe and my professional responsibility was also out of harms way.

I got the impression that Mr. Mitchell wanted us to go back to see what was going on just in case we could have rendered help. However, after that brief look at the beach when Justice Mitchell brought the commotion on the beach to my attention, I did not look back. We got back to Barroualie, the place where we started from culminating the end of the Falls of Baleine trip.

Later that evening, I received a call from Hunchie, and he said to me, Palmer is a good thing we leave Baleine when we did. When I asked why, he told me, one of his friends who were on the beach told him as soon as we pushed off and was on our way; some gun men came out of the mountain, they held up everyone and robbed every one of all of their valuables. The next morning I went to Central Police Station and I got a hold of the police night report which is a compilation of all of the crimes that was committed in the pass twenty four hours.

There was a consolidated report, of a multi reports robbery, which occurred at the Falls of Baleine on the day before that corresponded with the time the boat that carried my son Malique and Justice Mitchell; was leaving the Balleine Bay. Later I brought the incident to Justice Mitchell’s attention, he looked at me with a smile of his face and he said "O really!" Justice Mitchell's looked disappointed, as one who had regret missing out on the action that had taken place. 

After which, he lay his right elbow on the rounded area on the inside of the car window, pressing the outer area of his right elbow onto the glass, his open right hand cupped the right side of his chin, as his little, ring and middle fingers fold down into a king of fist, causing his little and ring finger to press down on his bottom lip, while index finger pointing up to his temple similar to Malcolm X famous photo graph; as he looked out or the window of the moving car at the sea, but appear to be looking out into space; As one in deep thought.  

I have never hear of a robbery at Baleine before this one and I have never heard of a robbery after this robbery.

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