TWO LOCAL murder convictions were yesterday set aside in rulings by the United Kingdom-based Privy Council which suggested in both instances that Jamaican judges had failed to adequately preside over the trials.
The Privy Council overturned the conviction of Ricardo Williams, who has spent the past 13 years in custody, and ruled that a retrial would be inappropriate based on the time he has already served.
Mr. Williams was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted in November 2000 for the 1994 murder of Leslie Grant in Seaview Gardens, St. Andrew. Twelve years old at the time of the incident, he allegedly confessed after being accused of being one of three persons who shot the victim.
However, the Privy Council argued that, despite being tried when he was 18, and even without considering claims that the accused was beaten and coerced, the judge should have never accepted a confession signed by a 12-year-old. "Once the statement is excluded, the case against the appellant falls to the ground, for the appellant's response to the charge caution would not in their Lordships' view be sufficient to sustain a conviction for murder," the judgment read.
In the other case, the Privy Council returned the case of Garnett Edwards to the Court of Appeal for consideration.
Mr. Edwards had been convicted and sentenced to death in March 2002 for the 1999 murder of Dougal Wright, who was shot dead in a bar.
WEAK IDENTIFICATION EVIDENCE
However, the law lords argued that the identification evidence, provided by an off-duty police sergeant at the time of the shooting, was so weak that the judge should have more properly instructed the jury on the evidence.
