R v Watson (Mark)
| Jurisdiction | Jamaica |
| Judge | SMITH, JA: |
| Judgment Date | 29 July 2005 |
| Neutral Citation | JM 2005 CA 47 |
| Judgment citation (vLex) | [2005] 7 JJC 2910 |
| Date | 29 July 2005 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Jamaica) |
CRIMINAL LAW - Murder - Capital
On September 25, 2003, Mark Watson (the appellant) was convicted in the Home Circuit Court of capital murder contrary to section 2(1)(d)(i) of the Offences Against the Person (Amendment) Act. The particulars of offence were that he murdered Marvin Gayle in the course or furtherance of a robbery on the 29 th October 1999 in the parish of St. Andrew. Beckford J sentenced him to suffer death in the manner prescribed by law.
The deceased was employed as a security officer by the Jamaica Property Company Ltd. at Knutsford Boulevard, New Kingston.
The appellant, at the time of the murder, was a security guard employed by the Ranger Protection and Security Company Ltd. and was on duty at the Jamaica Property Company Ltd's. buildings. At this location on Knutsford Boulevard in New Kingston are four buildings. On one side of the road are the buildings which house IBM, First Life Insurance Co. Ltd. and Pan Caribbean Merchant Bank Ltd. On the other side is Dyoll Insurance Co. Ltd.
The Crown's Cose
The first witness for the prosecution was Mr. Amos Rose, a security guard employed by the Ranger Security Company.
On the 28 th October, 1999 Mr. Rose was on duty outside the IBM building on Knutsford Blvd. His duty involved escorting employees of IBM to their cars in the car park. The appellant and another security guard, Michael Simms, were also on duty outside at the time. The appellant's duty, Mr. Rose said, involved patrolling the entire complex, that is, the three buildings on one side of the road and the Dyoll building on the other side. He saw the appellant at about 6:30 p.m. Miss Jennifer Smith, another security guard, was on duty inside the Pan Caribbean building. The deceased was on duty inside the First Life building. He worked at the information desk and was in charge of all the keys. The keys for all the offices in the buildings were left in his custody during the night. It was also the deceased's duty to open the garbage area for the garbage collector.
Mr. Amos told the Court that his and the appellant's duties commenced at 6:00 p.m. and ended at 6:00 a.m. At the time of the killing he had been working with the appellant for about four (4] weeks. He testified that no security officer working outside the buildings was allowed inside the buildings.
At about 11:25 p.m. on the night of the 28 th October, 1999, Mr. Amos saw the deceased leaving the First Life building and walking towards the Dyoll building. They spoke; soon after that the deceased returned with an electric kettle and entered the First Life building. Mr. Amos saw the appellant on many occasions that night as the latter patrolled with a dog. At about 3:45 a.m. on the 29 th October 1999, Mr. Amos said he had an attack of asthma. The appellant, who was wearing a sweater approached him and asked him what was wrong with him. After he replied, the appellant asked him for money to buy a cigarette. Mr. Amos told him he only had bus fare.
He testified that the deceased would usually hoist the flag at about 5:00 in the mornings and would at about the same time, give him the key to open the car park. He said that, when he did not get the key from the deceased and did not see the flag up by 5:00 a.m., he went to the First Life building and pressed the buzzer. When he did not get any response he went to the other side of the building. He knocked on the door; surprisingly, the door was not locked. He pushed the door open and entered. The deceased was not at the security desk. He observed drops of blood leading from the desk to a room behind the desk. There was a glass door leading to this room. There was light in the room. Through the glass door he saw a body lying on the floor on its back. He pushed the door open and entered the room. It was a man's body. The throat was cut and blood was all over. In shock he ran out of the First Life building. He saw the appellant, who was still wearing a sweater, coming up the steps from the direction of the Pan Caribbean building. The appellant asked, "What happen, Rose?" "Them kill somebody inside there so", Mr. Rose replied. He asked the appellant to go and ask Miss Smith, the other security guard in the Pan Caribbean building to contact base. He saw the appellant walk towards the Pan Caribbean building. In the meantime, Mr. Rose went in search of the deceased's co-worker. Eventually he and the deceased's co-worker went to the First Life building. It was then he realised that the man with his throat cut was the deceased, Marvin Gayle. The police was summoned.
Miss Jennifer Smith gave evidence for the prosecution. She was also employed by the Ranger Protection and Security Company Ltd. On the 28 th October, 1999 she was on duty at the Pan Caribbean building on Knutsford Boulevard, on the 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. shift. She was at the receptionist area on the third floor at about 4:30 a.m. on the 29 th October, when she heard a knock on the door. She looked and saw the appellant Mr. Watson. She opened the door; he entered and told her he wanted to use the bathroom in the basement. He was dressed in uniform and "had on a red coat." He went to the basement where he stayed for about 20 minutes. He then left the building. Sometime thereafter the appellant returned and told her to call the police because "a man dead across the road". She telephoned the police. Thereafter she asked him who had died and he replied "the old man security". She understood him to mean Mr. Gayle. She then locked up the Pan Caribbean building and went over to the First Life building. There, in a room, she saw the dead body of Mr. Gayle. She went back to the Pan Caribbean building to let in some employees.
The appellant, she said, then approached her and said he wanted "to go and put down something" in the building. She told him that the door was not locked. The appellant entered the building. A police officer spoke to Miss Smith and then entered the building also. The police officer went into the basement. She followed and stood at the door to the basement. She said she heard the police officer telling the appellant to "put on back your clothes".
Constable Leighton Bucknor testified that during the early morning of October, 29, 1999 he received instructions from Inspector Champagnie of the Criminal Investigation Bureau and proceeded to the Pan Caribbean and First Life buildings in New Kingston. Together with Inspector Champagnie, he entered the First Life building. He observed blood stains on the floor by the receptionist's desk. He next saw a man's body lying on its back with a wound to the throat. Outside the building he saw about four security guards, including the appellant, talking. The appellant walked away and entered the Pan Caribbean building. Constable Bucknor followed him. The appellant went down to the basement and stood in front of a "wash tub". He removed a wind-breaker from under the tub and began to wash it. Constable Bucknor went up to the tub and noticed that the colour of the water in the tub was red. He identified himself to the appellant took custody of the windbreaker and escorted the appellant to Inspector Champagnie. The appellant was searched. Constable Bucknor said that he and the Inspector removed from the appellant's pocket just over $5,000. He observed blood stains on the appellant's shoes which they removed from his feet. A watch was also taken from the appellant.
Inspector Derrick Champagnie swore that on the 29 th October, 1999 at about 5:30 a.m. he received a message from Police Control and, along with Constable Glen McGill, he proceeded to 60 Knutsford Boulevard, New Kingston. He entered the First Life building. In the lobby area he observed drops of blood. In a small room adjacent to the lobby, he saw the body of a man lying on its back in a pool of blood. He observed a large gaping wound on the neck and stab wounds to the chest. He spoke with Constable Bucknor who left and returned to him later with the appellant and a red windbreaker. From the windbreaker was dripping what appeared to be water mixed with blood. Constable Bucknor informed the Inspector of what transpired in the basement of the Pan Caribbean building. The appellant admitted that the windbreaker was his. The windbreaker was handed to Constable McGili.
Inspector Champagnie described the search of the appellant. From his pockets were taken a plastic bag with Jamaican currency, and a gold plated Citizen's Quartz watch, Mr. Melbourne Gayle, son of deceased, was present and identified the watch as that of his father. I will mention Melbourne's evidence shortly.
Inspector Champagnie told the Court that the plastic bag contained $5640 and a piece of white paper with the letters and words "I.O.U seven hundred dollars" written thereon. In the presence of the appellant, the Inspector showed the bag with cash and the note to Miss Tausa Swaby and other employees of DHL. The DHL office is located on the ground floor of the First Life building. The Inspector testified that Miss Swaby told him that the cash was from a petty cash pan and that the I.O.U note was written by her the day before.
The appellant, he said, when asked where he got the money from, replied," A mi brethren give it to me and mi girlfriend come check me last night, me give her four hundred dollars ($400)." Inspector Champagnie said that, on close examination, he noticed what appeared to be blood stains on the security uniform of the appellant. He therefore asked him to change into civilian...
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