Appeal court upholds men's convictions for murder of amputee

Two men who shot and killed an amputee, Wayne Powell, also called 'Oney', on April 21, 2013 have lost their appeal against their murder convictions.

The Court of Appeal ruled that Brian Simms and Dalton Stewart must serve their sentences of life imprisonment at hard labour with no eligibility for parole until they have served 18 years' imprisonment.

The sentences will run concurrently from the date of sentence on January 28, 2016.

Powell was having a drink and socialising with three friends in Slowdown district in Golden Spring, St Andrew when the two appellants armed with guns came on the scene. Two of the friends testified at the trial that  they had known the appellants for several years. They said they ran leaving the deceased who was called 'Oney'.

The witnesses said they heard shots being fired and it was later discovered that 'Oney' was fatally shot.

The appellants gave unsworn statements at their trial before a jury and denied being at the scene.

They appealed against their convictions and sentences and filed several grounds of appeal.

Attorney-at-law Patrick Peterkin, who represented Stewart, and attorney-at-law Gladstone Wilson, who represented Simms, submitted that the trial judge should have upheld the no-case submission because of the inadequacy of the identification evidence.

It was argued that the witnesses did not have sufficient time to identify the attackers. The attorneys submitted that the pathologist who was well experienced indicated in his report that he conducted a post mortem examination on the body of a male with all his extremities.

Crown Counsel Christine Johnson Spence submitted that there was both direct and circumstantial evidence of a sufficiently cogent and compelling standard to establish the guilt of each applicant.

The court, comprising Justice Frank Williams, Justice Carol Edwards and Justice Cresencia Brown Beckford, ruled last month that there was no merit in the grounds of appeal.

“It has not been shown that the learned trial judge erred in failing to uphold the no-case submission, as the evidence presented by the Crown was of a sufficiently reliable quality to go to the jury. The Crown also presented sufficient evidence to prove that the body on which the post-mortem was conducted, was that of the person shot by the applicants, who were acting together, and that the deceased died from one of the two shots fired,” the court ruled.

 - Barbara Gayle

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