BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – COUNSEL for murder convicts Lumumba Matthew and Justin Bass left no stone unturned today (May 20) when they argued their clients’ cases of appeal before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC).
On July 10, last year, the duo was jointly convicted of murdering and attempting to murder brothers Darren Berry and Dion Berry of Keys Village respectively. They were both sentenced to suffer the death penalty as prescribed by law.
The Berry brothers were travelling through Bayfords in their vehicle which Dion was driving and, while doing so, they were ambushed with gunfire that came from both sides of the road.
The appellants appeared at the local sitting of the (ECSC) Court of Appeal and argued against conviction as well as against the sentenced imposed by the Basseterre High Court of Justice.
Representing Matthew, Chesley Hamilton argued that during the trial the case should not have been left in the hands of the jury but rather, it should have been withdrawn by the trial judge. His supporting argument was that although, according to Dion Berry’s testimony, he saw Matthew shooting at him, it was a mere “fleeting glance” and the conditions under which identification was made were “poor”.
He further explained that without the aid of corroborating evidence to lend support to the eye-witness testimony of Dion Berry, the case should not have been allowed to go to the jury.
Regarding sentencing, Hamilton argued that the procedural integrity of the sentencing hearing was not what it ought to have been, in that the Prosecutor failed to inform of her intention to seek the death penalty and the grounds under which she would be doing so.
Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and prosecutor in this case, Paulina Hendrickson responded to Hamilton’s argument and explained to the court that in his testimony, Berry said he knew both accused for 18 months prior to the incident. On the issue of sentencing, the DPP conceded that the procedure was not followed. She also explained that the trial judge gave proper instructions to the jury on issue of identification while summing up the evidence for the jury.
Representing Bass, Dr. Henry Browne’s argument varied from Hamilton’s and his main contention was that there is no evidence on record which shows that there was a “joint enterprise” between Matthew and Bass.
Browne argued that according to Berry’s testimony, Matthew was shooting at him from the right side of the vehicle and shots were also coming from the left side of the vehicle. Be that as it may, he said, “at no point in time does the evidence disclose that Justin Bass was on the left side of the road in the bushes doing any shooting”.
Making further reference to Berry’s testimony, Dr. Browne explained that the victim said he saw Bass 20 feet away from where the shooting took place running from the left side of the road to the right. He said even if that were the case, the sole eye-witness (Berry) did not place Bass at the scene of the crime but rather some distance away from it.
“There is absolutely no evidence that Justin Bass did anything to cause the death of Darren Berry”, Browne stressed.
DDP Hendrickson, in counteraction to Browne’s arguments, maintained that there is no evidence that, other than the two victims and the two appellants, there was anyone else in the area where the crime was committed.
Justices of Appeal (JA) Honourable Michael Gordon Q.C., Honourable Janice George-Creque and Acting Justice of Appeal, Honourable Davidson Baptiste have reserved their decision on the matter until tomorrow (May 21).
