Garth Rolle, 28, before being sentenced to 20 years in prison told Justice Ricardo Marques Tuesday he never thought he would be before a court facing criminal charges for the death of his son.
Rolle was convicted in early June of killing his four-year-old son, Ackiem Rolle, between July 10 and Sept. 23, 2002, when a six-man, six-woman jury voted nine-to-three not guilty to murder, and eight-to-four guilty of manslaughter, after deliberating for four hours.
“I was never careless in my life before. It was like my whole world had collapsed around me. I did not know what to say or what do, it was like a nightmare,” Rolle said while taking occasional pauses and shaking his head.
“That first day it was like everybody turned against me. I could not explain something that I was not sure of doing. It was nothing I could say any more, the story just start getting bigger and bigger. I wanted to say something from the first day. The police was no help at all.”
The court room was silent as Rolle, who was openly crying, took his seat in the prisoner’s dock. Several of his family members left the court room in tears as they listened to his remarks before sentencing.
“As I expressed, Mr. Rolle, the court does not understand why you did not seek to admit at the start of this trial, your responsibility for the events that took place in July, 2002. The court will assume that you were troubled in your mind and were remorseful, because you led police to the remains of your child, even though that fact was denied during the trial,” Justice Marques said. He told Rolle the maximum sentence for manslaughter is life imprisonment before imposing the 20-year sentence.
Romona Farquharson, who represented the accused, submitted that the scenario that the jury accepted was that told by Sergeant Michelet Meronard, that Rolle had smoked a joint and given it to his son who choked on it. She said that if those circumstances were accepted, it was evident Rolle was under the influence of marijuana with diminished reasoning and clouded judgment.
The defence attorney said if it was not the case, then he would not have given the joint to the child.
“What has caused grave concern is the national outcry and the disposing of the body.” She said his actions could only be described as “fear.”
Ms Farquharson said Rolle, who was 23 at the time, was an inexperienced father “who acted improperly” and appealed to the judge to grant leniency and mercy to her client.
Justice Marques said one way of showing remorse would have been to plead guilty. He said that the “acts of Rolle were foolhardy and irresponsible” to give marijuana to a child. Any admission would have shown acceptance of responsibility and an expression of regret, he said.
The judge questioned whether what had occurred during and before the trial was a final attempt by Rolle to evade responsibility. Justice Marques said he was not concerned with the outcry, but that it was a child who was killed.
He said the jury accepted there was no intention to kill, but that Rolle was responsible for Ackiem’s death. He said it could be accepted that Rolle panicked in July, but then there was August and September, he questioned why in the interim period, Rolle did not go to the police. He also questioned why Rolle did not come before the jury and say what he had to, with the allegation of murder against him.
Prosecutor in the case, Sandra D. Gardiner, said Ackiem Rolle was in a particularly vulnerable state because he had 11 broken ribs and was unable to take himself to the doctor. She said that Rolle had a duty of care, as the parent of the child to seek medical attention.
“What was aggravating is that Garth Rolle tried to conceal the body for some three months.”
On the issue of fear she said, Rolle “was not fearful, but callous in his attitude for what he had done.” She said the body might have been kept close to Rolle’s work, but it was left in the open for animals to feed on. The prosecutor said that Ackiem Rolle was denied a “good Christian burial.”
She also noted that Rolle told the public that his child had been kidnapped, but he had sufficient time to inform the authorities of what had occurred and to reflect on his actions.
Probation officer Ella Bain told the court that Rolle, the fifth child of Halson Forbes and Garth Rolle, he lost his father to a traffic accident at seven, when he “had not sufficiently bonded with him.”
She said he was a graduate of Government High School in 1992, leaving with three Bahamas Junior Certificate of Examinations in English literature, religious knowledge and social studies. During that same summer, she said, he gained temporary employment at the Ministry of Works (MOW) as an assistant auto mechanic and was made permanent in 1993.
The probation officer said Rolle was employed with the MOW until the time of his conviction in June and did part-time work as a welder.
“He admitted to experimenting with smoking marijuana and other cigars and drinking beers in the past,” she said. His explanation for doing so “was to be accepted by friends, but he had stopped because he wanted to change his life” in 1998, she said.
She said he and Shaquelle Strachan, the mother of Ackiem, established a relationship in 1995, which lasted three years and ended as a result Rolle’s “infidelities.” Ms Bain said Rolle told her he spanked his son if he had done something that warranted the punishment.
She said Rolle told her “he did not mean to harm his son and went on to say that he had left him unattended in the bathtub and he had fallen out of the tub. The child’s body looked lifeless, but he attempted CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation).” She said when the child did not respond, “he panicked and did all types of things.”
The probation officer said Rolle declined to respond to several attempts by her to obtain other pertinent information regarding the offence and was referred by Rolle to his attorney.
The mother of Rolle described her son as one who had a relationship with God that has helped him through the hearing.
Elick Boyd an administrator of the auto bodyshop at MOW said Rolle was a “pleasant individual” he had known for eight years.
Ms Strachan said Rolle on occasion had given her money to assist with Ackiem. “She described him as a calm person, but continues to be hurt that he had been untruthful regarding the disappearance of her child,” Ms Bain said.
Overall she said, most people painted Rolle as “pleasant, friendly, somewhat shy,” but she emphasised that Rolle had voiced no remorse.
Rolle’s sentence starts from the date of his conviction on June 2.
By Jimenita Swain, The Nassau Guardian
