By Prior Beharry
FORMER high court judge and member of Parliament Herbert Volney has passed away.
Reports indicated that he suffered a heart attack and died on Wednesday morning. He was 69.
Born in Dominica, Volney became a puisne judge and presided over a number of controversial cases including the Brad Boyce manslaughter trial and the drug case of businessman Rick Gomes and his co-accused Luis Blanco Gomez.
Volney left the Judiciary in 2010, and entered electoral politics becoming the MP for St Joseph in the People’s Partnership Government under prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
He was fired after he brought to Cabinet and had promulgated the controversial Section 34 which allowed criminal matters to be thrown out under certain conditions. The law was subsequently repealed.
The Privy Council had ruled that Volney was wrong when he told a jury to return a not guilty verdict in the case against Boyce who was charged for the murder of Jason Johnson after and altercation at a nightclub in St James in 1996. Despite the ruling Brad Boyce will not be rearrested.
Gomes and Gomez who were freed by Volney after he upheld a no-case submission in their cocaine possession case in 1999.
In later years, Volney was active on social media especially Facebook with posts.
He remained active in politics.
On November 12, 2021 he posted:
His former ministerial colleague Devant Maharaj described him as a “colourful character.”
“Always a quick wit he often painted himself as the custodian of Catholic values in cabinet and representing those with mixed heritage as he was equally proud of his Dominician roots,” Maharaj said.
He also added that Volney’s removal from office however appeared to have had a serious mental and emotional impact upon him as he became bitter in his latter years.
