Judges’ mistakes have caused six murder retrials since 2009, The Nassau Guardian can reveal.
An analysis of the appellate court’s judgments up to February 13, 2012 disclosed that the judges made procedural errors, allowed inadmissible evidence and misdirected the jury.
Two judges made the same mistake by informing jurors of their decision to allow prosecutors to present contested statements as evidence.
Consequently, The Appeals Court ordered new trials for Renaldo Bonaby and Renaldo Armbrister, who are charged with the murder of Philip Gaitor Jr. and Edwin Bauld, and Wilfred McPhee who is charged with the murder of Corporal Eddison Bain in September 2011.
Quincy Johnson got a new trial in 2010 because the trial judge made mistakes in his summation to the jury. Johnson was acquitted of the murder of Denise Walker at his new trial the following year.
Jamal Glinton was convicted of the murder of businessman Keith Carey in a third trial. The appeals court ordered a new trial in 2009 after the trial judge made an error while directing the jury.
The court found a “material irregularity” in the case of Kevin Hart in March 2011. The trial judge failed to discharge the jury after it could not decide if Hart had murdered Kendal Braynen. Instead, the judge allowed the jury to give a verdict on a manslaughter charge.
The court quashed the conviction of Angelo Rahming, who had pleaded guilty to murder, after the Crown conceded that the procedure the judge used to determine whether he would allow Rahming to withdraw his guilty plea was “irregular and unfair”.
Artesia Davis
The Nassau Guardian
