The justices made the decision after determining that hear say evidence had been admitted during the 2002 high-profile trial of Neil Brown, now 26.
Brown, who was one of nearly 30 men on death row at Her Majestyﾒs Prison, was remanded back there Tuesday to await a retrial.
According to an official in the Attorney Generalﾒs Office, a speedy retrial is expected.
In December 2002, a jury found Brown guilty of murder, burglary and attempted armed robbery between May 28 and June 23, 2000.
In addition to a death sentence, he received two 20-year sentences for the other charges.
Brown was 22 at the time of the crime and was employed as a landscaper.
He was accused of breaking into the home of the Archdeacon and his wife, Rosemarie, at St. Agnes rectory sometime between 11pm on May 28, 2000 and 3:30am on May 29 with the intent to commit a felony.
The archdeacon died several weeks later.
Following his conviction, Supreme Court justice Anita Allen told Brown that he put together a ﾓdiabolical plan to rob the Thompsons of money you thought they had in their safe and which you had absolutely no right to.ﾔ
She had also said, ﾓThis court must send a message to people like you who would invade a personﾒs home in the middle of the night or at any time for that matter, armed with weapons with the intent to rob them of their belongings.ﾔ
Following the conviction of his client, attorney Michael Hanna was quoted in the press as saying, “The matter before this court is most unfortunate. What we challenged throughout the whole trial was the framing of Neil Brown.”
Yvette Rolle-Major, The Bahama Journal
