Fray deserved special verdict, says attorney

Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

THERE IS provision in law for a special verdict to be handed down in the case of a person who is suffering from mental illness, attorney-at-law Jacqueline Samuels-Brown argued on Tuesday in the Court of Appeal.

Samuels-Brown, who is representing convicted attempted hijacker, 23-year-old Stephen Fray, said provision was to be found in the Criminal Justice Administration (Amendment ) Act of 2006.

In responding to the submissions, Crown counsel Sanchia Burrell said the judge was correct when she did not find Fray guilty by reason of insanity.

She said the judge was quite generous in her summation and took several things into account, including the medical evidence when she handed down her verdict.Burrell said there was no medical evidence that Fray was assessed on the day of the incident or that he was diagnosed with mental illness prior to the incident.

fray's argument

Samuels-Brown is asking the court to find that the judge should have found him guilty by reason of insanity, based on the evidence of the witnesses, including two psychiatrists.

She is asking the Court of Appeal to find that Fray was mentally ill in April 2009, when armed with a firearm he attempted to hijack Canjet flight 918 at the Sangster International Airport, St James.

She said the Criminal Justice Administration (Amendment) Act made it clear that when it was established that a person was suffering from a mental disorder, based on the evidence from an approved medical practitioner, then a special verdict must be returned.

When such a verdict is returned, Samuels-Brown said the court must order that the defendant be kept in custody at the court's pleasure, make supervisory and treatment order, make a guardianship order or have the person kept as an inmate under the supervision of a psychiatrist for improvement of his mental health.

She said if the court disagreed with her then the court should find that the sentence was manifestly excessive.

In October 2009, Fray was convicted on eight counts of illegal possession of a firearm, shooting with intent, robbery with aggravation, assault at common law and breaches of the Airports Authority. He was sentenced to 20 years.