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Privy Council overturns family’s murder convictions
Tuesday, 07 July 2009
The British Privy Council has overturned the convictions of three members of a family, who were accused of killing a man.
Hayden Jackson, his son Addis Jackson and his stepson Altimont Jarrett were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment for the March 2000 murder of Clinton Miller.
Mr. Miller was beaten and stabbed on the grounds of the St. Ann's Bay Hospital during a fight with the three and died on the spot.
The three, who faced their court without legal representation, were found guilty of murder in October 2001.
Their application for leave to appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in February 2006.
Five years elapsed but the Privy Council belatedly heard the matter in January of this year under special leave facilities for poor persons.
According to the Privy Council ruling, the main witness for the prosecution was Dane Miller, the son of the deceased, who gave testimony that the three attacked his father and started beating him with machetes.
He also told the trial that it was Addis Jackson who used a knife to stab his father.
A post mortem report said his aorta was severed resulting in his death.
In ordering the quashing of their convictions, the Privy Council ruled that the jury had not been properly directed to take note of the fact that the beatings did not result in Mr. Miller's death.
It also noted that neither the elder Jackson nor Jarrett was carrying knives and it was clear that they had not meant to kill Mr. Miller.
The Privy Council therefore ruled that their convictions should be quashed and they should be freed.
In the case of Addis Jackson, the Law Lords indicated that proper instructions were not given to the Jury and therefore his conviction should also be quashed.
The Privy Council noted that the jury convicted him without considering whether it believed Dane Miller's testimony identifying him as the person who stabbed his father.
The Board therefore advised that his case should be sent back to Jamaica's Court of Appeal and directed that his appeal should be allowed.
It also ordered that his conviction be quashed and that the court should then consider whether to order a retrial.
Jackson will remain in custody during that process.
Tuesday, 07 July 2009
The British Privy Council has overturned the convictions of three members of a family, who were accused of killing a man.
Hayden Jackson, his son Addis Jackson and his stepson Altimont Jarrett were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment for the March 2000 murder of Clinton Miller.
Mr. Miller was beaten and stabbed on the grounds of the St. Ann's Bay Hospital during a fight with the three and died on the spot.
The three, who faced their court without legal representation, were found guilty of murder in October 2001.
Their application for leave to appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in February 2006.
Five years elapsed but the Privy Council belatedly heard the matter in January of this year under special leave facilities for poor persons.
According to the Privy Council ruling, the main witness for the prosecution was Dane Miller, the son of the deceased, who gave testimony that the three attacked his father and started beating him with machetes.
He also told the trial that it was Addis Jackson who used a knife to stab his father.
A post mortem report said his aorta was severed resulting in his death.
In ordering the quashing of their convictions, the Privy Council ruled that the jury had not been properly directed to take note of the fact that the beatings did not result in Mr. Miller's death.
It also noted that neither the elder Jackson nor Jarrett was carrying knives and it was clear that they had not meant to kill Mr. Miller.
The Privy Council therefore ruled that their convictions should be quashed and they should be freed.
In the case of Addis Jackson, the Law Lords indicated that proper instructions were not given to the Jury and therefore his conviction should also be quashed.
The Privy Council noted that the jury convicted him without considering whether it believed Dane Miller's testimony identifying him as the person who stabbed his father.
The Board therefore advised that his case should be sent back to Jamaica's Court of Appeal and directed that his appeal should be allowed.
It also ordered that his conviction be quashed and that the court should then consider whether to order a retrial.
Jackson will remain in custody during that process.
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