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'Prison Privilege' - Ex-Cop Fathers Child While Behind Bars
Published: Saturday | March 2, 2013 17 Comments
Barbara Gayle, Justice Coordinator
Convicted cop Rushon Hamilton has fathered a three-month-old baby boy while in custody awaiting trial for the murder of 14-year-old schoolgirl Jhaneel Goulbourne.
The disclosure was made yesterday while Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Lisa Palmer Hamilton asked Justice Lloyd Hibbert to impose the death penalty on Hamilton.
"The probation report states that even in custody he deems himself above the rules and regulations. He fathered a second child a few weeks ago with his fiancée of six years because he got certain privileges as a former lawman," Palmer Hamilton said.
Hamilton's mother, Christiana Grant Hayman, was outside the courtroom yesterday with Hamilton's baby. Grant Hayman said she and other family members were going to assist in taking care of the baby. She described her son as a very helpful and caring person.
She said she was happy that her son did not get the death penalty and was looking forward to the appeal hearing as she believed her son was innocent.
Life imprisonment
Hamilton, 27, was sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to serve 35 years before being eligible for parole. He was convicted in October, last year, in the Home Circuit Court of Goulbourne's murder.
Attorneys-at-law Valerie Neita Robertson and Peter Champagnie, who represented Hamilton, had pleaded with the judge not to impose the death penalty as the case did not warrant such a sentence.
Justice Hibbert, in passing sentence, said he was not satisfied that the offence was of the most extreme and exceptional.
However, the judge warned that Hamilton had to get a long stretch in prison because people who thought they could eliminate witnesses and get away lightly with it must be discouraged.
After Hamilton was sentenced, Neita Robertson told The Gleaner that she has grounds on which to appeal.
Goulbourne's body has not been found but the prosecution led evidence that Hamilton confessed that he shot the girl and dumped the body at sea. The confession was made while Hamilton was in a police station lock-up with other inmates.
Hamilton was charged with carnal abuse of the girl after she reported the incident to the police in October 2008. A few weeks later, she was standing at her gate in Harbour View, St Andrew, when she was taken away.
The Crown, which was also represented by prosecutors Alwayne Smith and Sasha Marie Smith, led evidence that Hamilton murdered Goulbourne to prevent her from testifying against him.
Published: Saturday | March 2, 2013 17 Comments
Barbara Gayle, Justice Coordinator
Convicted cop Rushon Hamilton has fathered a three-month-old baby boy while in custody awaiting trial for the murder of 14-year-old schoolgirl Jhaneel Goulbourne.
The disclosure was made yesterday while Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Lisa Palmer Hamilton asked Justice Lloyd Hibbert to impose the death penalty on Hamilton.
"The probation report states that even in custody he deems himself above the rules and regulations. He fathered a second child a few weeks ago with his fiancée of six years because he got certain privileges as a former lawman," Palmer Hamilton said.
Hamilton's mother, Christiana Grant Hayman, was outside the courtroom yesterday with Hamilton's baby. Grant Hayman said she and other family members were going to assist in taking care of the baby. She described her son as a very helpful and caring person.
She said she was happy that her son did not get the death penalty and was looking forward to the appeal hearing as she believed her son was innocent.
Life imprisonment
Hamilton, 27, was sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to serve 35 years before being eligible for parole. He was convicted in October, last year, in the Home Circuit Court of Goulbourne's murder.
Attorneys-at-law Valerie Neita Robertson and Peter Champagnie, who represented Hamilton, had pleaded with the judge not to impose the death penalty as the case did not warrant such a sentence.
Justice Hibbert, in passing sentence, said he was not satisfied that the offence was of the most extreme and exceptional.
However, the judge warned that Hamilton had to get a long stretch in prison because people who thought they could eliminate witnesses and get away lightly with it must be discouraged.
After Hamilton was sentenced, Neita Robertson told The Gleaner that she has grounds on which to appeal.
Goulbourne's body has not been found but the prosecution led evidence that Hamilton confessed that he shot the girl and dumped the body at sea. The confession was made while Hamilton was in a police station lock-up with other inmates.
Hamilton was charged with carnal abuse of the girl after she reported the incident to the police in October 2008. A few weeks later, she was standing at her gate in Harbour View, St Andrew, when she was taken away.
The Crown, which was also represented by prosecutors Alwayne Smith and Sasha Marie Smith, led evidence that Hamilton murdered Goulbourne to prevent her from testifying against him.
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