A Bahamian captain and his crew accused of illegally fishing plan to sue over their arrest.
Captain Stanley Deveaux and his crew of Daniel McPhee, Samuel Butler and Samuel Burrows were arrested in Exuma on July 31.
The crew of Defence Force patrol craft P-45, boarded and searched “The Lady J” near Beacon Cay.
They found an air compressor and more than 1100 conchs.
But investigators failed to do their homework, and charged the crew under a law that no longer exists.
As a result, technically there was no charge before the court, so Magistrate Samuel McKinney threw out the case.
Before ruling that there was no case before him, Craig Butler, who represents the fishermen, presented documents to show that they did not break the law.
Butler said that he intends to sue as the fishermen had lost their catch.
What’s more, Butler said, based on the court’s finding the RBDF had no lawful authority to board the boat.
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