A man sentenced to death for the murder of a 19-year-old woman on a golf course had his sentence overturned yesterday in the Court of Appeal.
Dominique Moss, who was found guilty of murdering Samantha Forbes earlier this year, was granted a reprieve as the court substituted his death sentence with a conviction of maslaughter and a jail sentence of 25 years.
Also appearing before the court yesterday was Keith Lotmore, who together with Moss was charged with the murder of the young woman and found guilty of manslaughter.
His appeal proved to be unsuccessful.
Moss was convicted and sentenced to death on April 6, 2004 after the Supreme Court found him guilty of killing Ms. Forbes, who was found nearly decapitated on the Emerald Golf Course in South Bahamia four years ago.
Lotmore was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to six years in prison.
The Court of Appeal ruled that Moss’ murder verdict “cannot stand”, as the trial judge Stephen Isaacs, had failed to direct the jury in regards to Moss being intoxicated at the time the crime was committed.
Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall said that the absence of that particular direction was “fatal” and that it denied the opportunity of being acquitted for murder and being convicted of manslaughter instead.
Sir Burton said that if Moss was under thr influence of alcohol, as testified by two witnesses, then the jury should have been directed to take into consideration the question of the intent to kill on Moss’ part.
He explained that certain offences like murder required the specific intent to kill.
In regards to Lotmore, the Chief Justice ruled that the verdict stands, as the evidence heard in the trial had shown that the appellant had joined Moss in a “common design” to cause “at least unlawful harm” to Ms. Forbes.
Four years earlier the partially nude body of Samantha Forbes had been found on the golf course in Grand Bahama. Her head had been nearly severed by a laceration to the throat and neck.
An autopsy confirmed that her throat had been slit and further findings indicated she had been the victim of rape before her death.
The Tribune
