Appeals judges ruled last week that a man serving a five-year prison sentence was wrongfully convicted of rape, releasing him from Her Majesty’s Prison at Balsam Ghut after he had spent more than a year in custody. The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court of Appeal also heard arguments but did not issue judgments in the cases of two men convicted of murder and a woman convicted of manslaughter.
Ricky Callwood, a 33-year-old Jost Van Dyke resident, walked out of the Commercial Court building a free man Friday after his lawyer Anthea Smith argued that High Court Justice Suzie d’Auvergne had made mistakes while instructing the jury during Mr. Callwood’s April 2010 trial. Specifically, the lawyer argued that the judge did not properly inform the jury how they should assess the credibility of the testimony given by the complaining witness, Mr. Callwood’s female cousin.
The woman had accused Mr. Callwood of raping her in his JVD apartment on Sept. 15, 2007. He had claimed that the two had been having a consensual sexual affair. Last week, a three-judge panel chaired by Justice Mario Michel agreed with Ms. Smith’s submissions and overturned the jury’s verdict, declaring it to be unsafe.
See the Jan. 26, 2012 edition for full coverage.