3 months ago, we told you how the Caribbean Court of Justice held its first sitting in Belize. One of the cases they sat on in person was an
application by convicted murderer Gregory August for special leave to appeal before them as the highest court in the land. At that hearing, they
determined that his case will become the first criminal appeal to be heard from Belize. Well today, August was back before the Court of Appeal which
has already affirmed his conviction for murder.
No, he wasn't there to appeal the case again, but because his attorney, Eamon Courtenay, will make original points at the CCJ, but these issues were
not raised during his first appeal before the Court of Appeal.
It involves a good character direction which his new attorney contends should have been given by the judge in his original criminal trial. But, more
importantly, the outcome of August's case could set a precedent for how the Supreme Court handles sentencing for persons convicted of murder, and
whether or not life imprisonment is excessive. Those are two very important issues, and so the CCJ wants to see what the Court of Appeals views on
these matters are before they hear August's case.
So this morning, his attorney and the Director of Public Prosecutions spent the entire day presenting their legal arguments on the issues. They
finished an hour and a half before news time, and we asked August's attorney to outline the arguments he made in his client's favour:
Eamon Courtenay, SC - Attorney for Gregory August
"We made two points. One was that he was entitled to what is called a good character direction and secondly we said that the sentence imposed on him of
life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is unconstitutional. One the first point, the law is where a person raises the question of his
character in a trail, the judge should in most cases give a good character direction. That means to tell the jury that person is of good character and
therefore if he testifies you should consider whether you want to believe him because he really is not a quote, un quote "bad person". And similarly if
he is a person of good character, you must consider whether he has a propensity or a predisposition to committing the offence. That was not given and
we said that was an error. We also raise the question of the sentence under the criminal code a person who is found guilty of murder and is not
sentenced to death is sentenced to a mandatory minimum of life imprisonment without parole. Second 7 of the constitution said that no one is to be
subjected to inhume and degrading treatment. And we say that to submit a person to prison or to commit a person to prison for the rest of his and her
life is unconstitutional."
Daniel Ortiz
"How about that issue where murder is a capital offence, the public may believe that life imprisonment is adequate - how do you make the point that
it's not, it's an abuse?"
Eamon Courtenay, SC - Attorney for Gregory August
"The point is this, we do not say, Mr. August does not say that a person should not in an appropriate case be sentences to life imprisonment. What we
do say and say very strongly is that the constitution requires a sentence to be imposed by a judge. It requires the judge to look at all the
circumstances, the facts of the case, the circumstances in which the murder was committed. It looks at the antecedent, is this a bad person? Did they
have a previous criminal record? Were they gainfully employed? Do they have a family? Etc. Then there are a number of issues - there is retribution,
there is deterrence and prevention but there is also rehabilitation and reformation. Mr. August in this particular case, this offence was committed
when he was 19; he was sentenced when he was 24. We say that it is inhuman to say to him for the rest of your life until you die, you are committed to
prison. What do we say that? Because the constitution says no one should be denied his human dignity and if you tell a man that you have nothing more
to live for until your death, then you are deluding him of his human dignity which is at the centre of the Belize constitution. So we say that what is
required is a system whereby that sentence of life imprisonment is reviewed. It would be after 10 years, it could be after 15 years, it could be after
25 years. But he must have some hope that if he does good, if he reforms, if he is a model prisoner, there is a possibility that he can come out. I
want to make clear that Mr. August position is that he should not be convicted of murder, he was wrongly convicted of murder and that is a matter that
the court, the CCJ is going to decide."
The Court of Appeal will deliver its decision at a date to be announced, and after that, August will get his opportunity to fully appeal his criminal
conviction for murder before the CCJ a few months after that. He was convicted in November 2012 of killing 73 year-old Alvin Robinson in May of 2009.
In that case, the jury heard evidence that Robinson, who was a cripple, and who was also blind in one eye, was stabbed 9 times in his face and neck,
while he was at his home at his home at Mile 8 1/2 on the Western Highway. As you heard, August's attorney says that he maintains his innocence, even
though he was convicted and has appealed once already.
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