Hempstead man named head Barbados justice

A Hempstead man who serves as a court referee for the New York State Supreme Court in Mineola is the next chief justice of the Caribbean island of Barbados.

Marston Gibson, 57, said Wednesday he had accepted the job to be the top judicial official in his native country.

In Mineola, his responsibilities are that of a judge, deciding on disputes on civil court matters.

The longtime Hempstead resident said he will assume his new duties at the end of this month.

He had been nominated to the position earlier this year, and the Rhodes scholar said Prime Minister Freundel Stuart asked him this week to accept the position.

Gibson said he plans to remain chief justice of Barbados until his term expires when he turns 70.

-- AP