7 News Belize

Convicted Killer Asks CCJ To Set Him Free
posted (March 31, 2017)
Today, the Caribbean Court of Justice has heard the first criminal Appeal from Belize, and it's for convicted killer Gregory August. He's trying to get his conviction for murder overturned at the Caribbean Court of Justice. He's the man who successfully convinced the Court of Appeal to make a landmark judgement scrapping life sentences, making them no longer mandatory for a murder conviction.

His case originated in November, 2012. He was convicted of the 2009 murder of 73 year-old Alvin Robinson. A jury found him guilty of stabbing the disabled man 9 times to the face and neck, killing him. There was no eyewitness evidence which pointed to him as the person who inflicted the wounds, but the prosecution depended on circumstantial evidence.

Two important pieces of evidence were a shirt and a tennis shoe belonging to him. The prosecution's evidence was that they found blood both those items, and the police also made a mould of a shoe print of this same shoe, which was found at the crime scene.

August's defense against that was that these were pieces of evidence manufactured to frame him for a crime he didn't commit. Today in Port of Spain, Trinidad his attorney, Eamon Courtenay, presented that case before the Caribbean Court of Justice. He made the point that August didn't get a fair trial because his defence of being framed was not properly addressed to the jury by the trial judge's directions. Courtenay also submitted before the CCJ that August was also not given the benefit a good character direction. With video provided by the CCJ itself, here's an excerpt of the more than 3-hour appeal hearing:

Eamon Courtenay, SC - Attorney for Gregory August
"Not only was Mr. August saying "I was not there and therefore I didn't do it," the submission of council for the appellant in his address to the jury on 4 specific occasions, was that his client was being framed by the police that he was being set up by the police had concocted this evidence against him. That we respectful submit, should have been put to the jury and it was not. If I could invite the courts attention to our submissions which is to be found in volume 1, of the appellant's submission."

Judge
"Mr. Courtenay the trial judge did say that the blood and the print was useless, was it not?"

Eamon Courtenay, SC - Attorney for Gregory August
"Yes."

Judge
"Which is pretty strong."

Eamon Courtenay, SC - Attorney for Gregory August
"Yeah and he rightly said to the jury of course that it's a matter for you, having told him that when you look at the result of all of this, I'm not sure how useful it is going to be to you going to you because the most common blood type is O and so what? There was nothing unique to link it to the accused with respect to the footprint. The morgue was broken, that was unreliable, the best is that Ms. Bol could say it was a footprint that was found because they also did an ink impression. The best she could say is that it may have come from the tennis shoe of Mr. Augusr and in those this circumstance, the judge said to the jury, you cannot work with me. You need to be sure. What we are saying is that although he identified the fact that the expert evidence was unreliable, useless, to be more direct that he needed to go further, he needed to say... Now remember what the defence has said to you. The defence had said that this has been a set up, the was a manufacturing of evidence, this was a concoction. Look at what Mr. August has said to you, he voluntarily called the police and said, I understand you want me for some murder and at home, he came and had on his shoes which apparently would have had on blood. He had the t-shirt and said whose t-shirt was that? That is mine. All of this is completely inconsistent with a man who is guilty, a man who has committed an offense."

"Appellant a defendant is to be given the benefit of the jury being told that listen, even in the case of a person who gives a statement from the dock, or a person who goes into the witness stand, if that person is of good character, to say to them, that who to believe, the officialdom verses a person who is accused. This person is not a reprobate. This person is not a person of bad character. Do not look at him simply because he is being accused, because he is here to defend himself, you draw inferences in attempting to weigh people, you perhaps give a slight emphasis to the persons who are on prosecution as opposed to a accused person."

DPP Cheryl-Lynn Vidal was also given an opportunity to respond to the appeal, and she tried to convince the CCJ that, like the Court of Appeal, they should dismiss this case because August did get a fair trial.

She made the point that the judge did properly direct the jury on all the aspects of the case, but she did encounter one of the CCJ judges who was very skeptical about the quality of evidence which was used to get August convicted. Here's the back and forth that she had with him today in the Appeal hearing:

Judge
"Everybody agrees that a trial should be fair, but I always thought, probably mistaken, that it was all about finding the truth and on the basis of evidence that is of such quality that you can be sure even in an objective way that the person was indicted is the guilty one. I am pretty sure that the quality of the evidence would not lead me at least to say well I am sure without any reasonable doubt that this fellow did what the indictment says did. To have somebody convicted on that basis, send somebody for life or 30 years or whatever. That's a big thing. Shouldn't the evidence be simply more cardiant. Although we accept while it's good enough."

Cheryl-Lynn Vidal, SC - Director of Public prosecutions
"I've heard and I respectfully disagree that the evidence was not at all probative. Your honor has said that the blood could not be tied to the appellant or the shoe print could not have been tied to the appellant. But the evidence was in fact that that shoe print could have been made."

Judge "Could have been and the blood could have been of the victim. Could have been is not good enough I would think."

Cheryl-Lynn Vidal, SC - Director of Public prosecutions
"And that of course has to be admitted. However, when one puts all of the evidence together and this is the essence of circumstantial evidence that no single piece of evidence can conclusively found with the case in relation to the accused. For that when those pieces are added together, they point in one direction and that direction is towards the prison charge. So that the initial altercation then the sighting of the appellant going in the direction of the path that leads to the house of the deceased, the scene of the appellant shortly thereafter returning from that direction. The fact that a footprint which may have been made by the shoe that he was wearing that night, was found in a track that lead to the home of the deceased and the fact that lot of the same blood type was found on the shoe and shirt of the appellant. When added together could lead in one direction."

Judge
"I would certainly say if you take everything together it makes very good suspect, its makes a very good person to suspect that he did it, but that's one step. The next step is he how he did it without absolutely any reasonable doubt."

Cheryl-Lynn Vidal, SC - Director of Public prosecutions
"The jury was so satisfied, your honor."

Judge
"In its wisdom."

This Appeal case also includes convicted murderer Alwyn Gabb who is trying to get his prison sentence reduced. The hearing lasted for almost 3 and a half hours.

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