Prince McCreath, Rudolph Simms, Jason Rerrie
| Jurisdiction | Jamaica |
| Judge | PANTON, J.A. |
| Judgment Date | 30 July 2004 |
| Neutral Citation | JM 2004 CA 28 |
| Judgment citation (vLex) | [2004] 7 JJC 3009 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Jamaica) |
| Date | 30 July 2004 |
CRIMINAL LAW - Murder - Identification evidence - Turnbll warning - Accomplice
On June 11, 2003, after a three day hearing, we granted the applications for leave to appeal in this matter and treated the hearing of the applications as the hearing of the appeals. In respect of the appellant Rudolph Simms, we allowed the appeal, quashed his conviction for the murder of Vencott Beckford, set aside the sentence and entered a verdict of acquittal. So far as the appellants Prince McCreath and Jason Rerrie were concerned, we reserved our decision.
Vencott Beckford was murdered in the parish of Hanover on June 16, 1999. Tb e appellants were convicted of this murder on January 25, 2001, after a trial lasting fourteen days before Wesley James, J., and an all female jury of twelve sitting in the Circuit Court Division of the Gun Court, Montego Bay, Saint James,, They were sentenced to life imprisonment with the specification that each should serve twenty-five years before being eligible for parole.
The deceased died from haemorrhage and shock as a result of gunshot injuries to the chest and neck. These injuries were received while he was seated in a car at the entrance to the Orange Bay Housing Scheme in Hanover where Constable Charlene Irving lived.
The evidence for the prosecution came mainly from the witnesses Denzil Williams, and Charlene Irving and a cautioned statement given by the appellant McCreath. In addition, there was important supporting evidence given by Marcia Dunbar and Marcia Brown.
Denzil Williams, a carpenter living in Little London, Westmoreland, in June 1999, was a friend of the deceased and the appellant Rerrie. He was asked by the deceased to borrow Rerrie's gun (presumably unlicensed) with the intention of not returning it. Rerrie got wind of this plan ahead of any approach being made by Williams. By chance, Williams and Rerrie met on Wharf Road on the morning of June 16, 1999. Rerrie invited Williams to his house. The invitation was accepted. At the house, however, the treatment meted out to Williams was far from being what the ordinary house guest would have expected. Rerrie told him that he had heard about the plan to relieve him of his gun. The appellants Simms and McCreath and others were at the house at some stage or other during the day. Williams was bound, beaten and threatened with death.
Rerrie had a date at the Green Island Court House. He gave McCreath a gun and instructed him to guard Williams until he returned from Court. This gun was passed from McCreath to others during the course of the day. McCreath informed Williams that he (McCreath) had turned many persons into duppies, meaning of course that he had killed many individuals.
When Rerrie returned from Court, he used the gun to assault Williams and promised to release him if he called the deceased on the telephone. The group of men had earlier taken Williams' diary from him and given it to Rerrie who had torn from it a page with the telephone number of the deceased on it. Williams refused to call the deceased, telling Rerrie that he felt he would be killed even if he called the deceased. Rerrie instructed McCreath and Simms to stuff the witness' mouth and take him outside. This they did. Rerrie gave McCreath the gun. The latter pointed it at Williams and inquired as to what part of his body he wanted to be shot. A car drove up, and McCreath took Williams into the bushes to hide.
Eventually, Rerrie retrieved the gun from McCreath and said to Williams, "look how me and you a friend and me have fi go kill you". They took Williams to a "ballfield", then Rerrie and Simms took him to a bar. At the bar, Rerrie asked the barmaid for permission to use the telephone. He dialled the deceased's telephone number and instructed Williams to tell the deceased to meet him (Rerrie) at the roadside. Williams spoke on the telephone, advising the deceased's girlfriend to tell the deceased accordingly. He also told her to tell the (deceased that he had "gotten the something". This was a reference to the gun he had undertaken to get from Rerrie.
Rain started to fall. Rerrie, Simms, Williams and another male person walked for about fifteen minutes up to the top of the hill. There they saw McCreath. This was in Orange Bay. Rerrie then said that they were going to kill the deceased. An unnamed male, described as "the fat youth", suggested to Rerrie, that he should make McCreath deal with it. McCreath said he would deal with it. They all walked down the road; Rerrie, Simms and "the fat youth" on the left side of the road while McCreath held the gun on Williams and ordered him not to move. Rerrie, Simms and "the fat youth" went into a bus stop and immediately ran from it. One of them said, "him wi see wi deh soh". They ran into the busln on the right hand side. Rerrie then said, "the car a come, see him a come deh". Williams noticed that it was the deceased's car - a "greyish" Nissan Sunny. McCreath then took the gun off Williams and pointed it at the car. At that point, Williams ran off while hearing shots being fired. He looked back and saw Rerne and Simms running towards the car. This was about 7-7:30 p.m. There was a light post in the area. Williams went back to Little London, then in the morning he went to the Little London Police Station where he was advised to report the matter to the Green Island Police. Eventually, the police went to him in Negril. He gave a statement, was arrested and charged for murder but the charge was dismissed.
The arrest of Rerrie and McCreath
At about 7.30 p.m. on the 16 th June, Corporal Black received a telephone call about the murder. He went to the scene where he saw the deceased in the car with gunshot wounds to the right side of his chest, left side of his neck and on the right leg. Based on the information that he received, he went in search of Rerrie and others. He saw McCreath three days later at the Green Island Police Station. McCreath was told that he had been seen running from the scene of the murder. He denied being there.
Constable Stenneth Lewis assisted Corporal Black in swabbing McCreath's hands on the said 19 th June, 1999. The swabs were delivered to the Government Analyst on the 25 th June. A statement was given by McCreath to Inspector Harris in the presence of Miss Lona Gayle, J.P. Following that statement, McCreath was arrested and cautioned. His response when cautioned was, "me did stand up pon the bank with the pumpie, but me never fire nuh shot". When Rerrie was arrested months later, he, when cautioned, said he knew nothing about the murder.
The shooting as seen bv Constable Charlene Irving
Constable Irving was at her home in the Orange Bay Housing Scheme. At about 7.20 p.m., she heard an explosion coming from the direction of the main entrance to the scheme. She switched off the lights. She heard other explosions. She looked towards the direction of the explosions and saw a group of four men running. Rerrie who was known to her for about two years was in the front of this group of men. He had a semi-automatic pistol in his hand. She called the Green Island Police from a neighbour's house. The motor car impacted on a wall at the entrance to the Scheme.
The swabbing
The analysis of the swabs showed the presence of gunshot residue on both hands of McCreath. The view of Miss Marcia Dunbar, the expert, was that gunshot residue can remain on the hands up to four days. It depended on how thoroughly the hands were washed, if indeed they were washed.
The presence at the bar
Miss Marcia Brown was the bartender at the bar to which Denzil Williams was taken. She said that Rerrie and Simms had come into the bar at about 2 p.m. and she had served them drinks. They went away, and returned after 4 p.m. with another person. Rerrie, she said, made a telephone caii whiie in the bar. They went away. Rerrie and Simms, she said, returned about 6 p.m. and finally left the bar "after 8-8:30 p.m.".
McCreath's statement
Inspector Harris, in the presence of Miss Lona Gayle, J.P., recorded a statement from McCreath, as dictated by McCreath. In it, McCreath said that he was taken by one George to a place called "Bump" where they met two young men, "Furro" and "Johnny" (Rerrie and Simms). George told him that Rerrie ran the place. He said that he never saw Rerrie again until "Tuesday of this week" (the 15 th June, that is). This meeting was at a bar at Bump. He saw Rerrie again on the Wednesday. Rerrie said that a man wanted to kill him (Rerrie) and that he was going to show McCreath that man later. Rerrie left and returned with "a brown youth". He, McCreath, Simms, George, Rerrie and the brown youth were all at New Town. Rerrie assaulted the brown youth saying the latter wanted to kill him. Rerrie made a telephone call and instructed the brown youth to speak to the deceased on the telephone.
Rerrie told McCreath to walk through the bush and meet him at the housing scheme at Orange Bay. According to the statement, McCreath said Rerrie told him of a spot where he had hidden a firearm and instructed him to take it and meet him "at the next side". He picked up the firearm and when he reached "the bush part", he saw Rerrie, Simms and the brown youth. He saw the car come on the scene, and the brown youth walked towards it. The brown youth fired a shot towards the car and ran. Rerrie and Simms then ran to the car and fired several shots into...
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