Policeman freed from murder charge by Privy Council

Lescene Edwards, the police constable who was convicted eight years ago for the murder of his children's mother, was freed by Jamaica's final appellate court, the Privy Council earlier today.

Sharp criticisms came from the Privy Council today in relation to the long delay in having the case tried, the government's lack of resources in providing expert evidence for accused persons, and breaches of the Constitution in relation to trial within a reasonable time.

The Privy Council has recommended that the Jamaican authorities must compensate Edwards for constitutional breaches.

“My sleepless nights have ended agonising over this case and for me it is sad that the Court of Appeal did not see the injustice,” said Queen's Counsel Valerie Neita Robertson. 

“Long live the Privy Council,” she added.

It was sad, she said, that Edwards had to go to another country for the injustice to be seen.  

Neita Robertson, Queen's Counsel Patrick Atkinson and attorney-at-law Deborah Martin had represented Edwards in the local courts.

Edwards, who is now 53, was sentenced in November 2013 to life imprisonment and ordered to serve 35 years before he could be eligible for parole.

He had to wait for 10 years before his case was tried.

The Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal in 2019 and ordered that he instead serve 20 years before parole.

Trial

A Home Circuit Court jury had convicted Edwards of the murder of 23-year-old Aldonna Harris who was the mother of his twin girls.

She was fatally shot four weeks after she got married to a man who lived abroad.

Edwards and Harris were involved in a relationship for four years before she got married. 

The relationship continued after Harris got married.

The body was found at her home in Pembroke Hall, St Andrew in September 2003 and a suicide note was found beside it.

Edwards, who was at the house at the time of the incident, was arrested and charged with murder.

It was alleged at the trial that Edwards shot Harris and wrote the suicide note.

Edwards' defence was that he was asleep in the room when he heard an explosion and saw Harris with the firearm in her lap.

After the conviction, Neita Robertson had described the outcome of the case as “a travesty of justice” and argued that the matter should never have been prosecuted.

Appeal

The Privy Council found that there was no challenge to Neita Robertson's statement that “independent forensic experts whether on ballistics, GSR (gunshot residue), blood spatter or handwriting are not available in Jamaica".

She also argued that there was no legal aid available to Edwards to have experts flown in to Jamaica at the public's expense.

The Privy Council pointed out that it was only because of the English lawyers representing Edwards pro bono that he was able to adduce fresh evidence at his appeal hearing.

The impact of the fresh evidence from scientific experts showed that Harris was seated on the bathroom floor with her back against the closed door.

It was concluded that if that was the case there was simply no satisfactory explanation as to how Edwards was able to murder the deceased in that confined space in the bathroom, then move the body, open the door and appear in the living room without any blood on his clothes, blood stains or bloodied footprint.

The Privy Council found that based on the fresh evidence, the conviction was plainly unsafe.

“The respondent very properly conceded that given the lapse of more than 18 years since the incident, it would be wrong to seek an order for retrial.”

The respondent conceded that Edward's right under section 16 of the Constitution of Jamaica to a trial within a reasonable time was breached by the 10-year delay between arrest and trial.

The Privy Council said consideration should have been given as to whether Edwards should receive compensation for the miscarriage of justice that was done.

“We commend his case to the Jamaican authorities for their consideration,” the Privy Council said.

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