Policeman loses appeal of conviction for causing grievous bodily harm

Former police constable Jerome Graham, who was convicted in January 2018 of punching a taxi operator in the face, rendering him unconscious, has lost his appeal against his conviction for causing grievous bodily harm.

The court upheld Graham's conviction and sentence of $600,000 or four months' imprisonment.

The incident occurred during a dispute between Graham and Chester Daley while Graham and another policeman were performing traffic duties in Mandeville, Manchester, in April 2014.

The prosecution's case was that Graham accosted Daley who was operating a taxi. They got into a physical altercation and bystanders intervened.

Daley agreed to walk with Graham and the other policeman to the Mandeville police station.

A prosecution witness testified that Graham was walking behind Daley and was holding on to his clothing but Daley wriggled out of Graham's grasp and turned around, faced Graham and said something to him. Graham then punched Daley in the face and he fell to the ground and was motionless.

Graham gave an unsworn statement in which he said while escorting Daley to the police station, the taxi operator punched at him. He said he evaded the punch and Daley “appeared to have lost his balance and  fell on his back, hitting the back of his head.”  He said Daley appeared to be unconscious.

The parish judge rejected Graham's account and found that it was unlikely that Daley would have fallen on his back while throwing a punch at Graham who was in front of him. The judge accepted the prosecution's case that Graham punched Daley in the face, causing him to fall and hit his head on the ground.

Graham appealed his conviction but the Court of Appeal said last week in its judgment that Graham  had failed to comply with the requirements of the Judicature (Parish Court) Act (JPCA) in that his notice and grounds of appeal did not set out the facts and point of law on which he intended to rely in support of his appeal.

Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Jeremy Taylor and Crown Counsel Atiba Dyer had referred to the breach of the JPCA in their submissions opposing the appeal.

President of the Court of Appeal Justice Patrick Brooks, Justice Jennifer Straw and Justice David Fraser, in dismissing the appeal, said that although the JPCA allowed it to hear an appeal despite the breaches “this is not a case in which it should exercise its discretion in favour of Mr Graham.” 

The court heard arguments on the substantive matter and found that Graham's complaint against his conviction was without merit.

-Barbara Gayle

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