‘A total disgrace’

St Andrew farmer and mason 54-year-old John Murray is now a free man after languishing in prison under horrible conditions for five years, waiting on the transcript of his trial so that his appeal could be heard.

Last week, the Court of Appeal quashed his convictions and set aside sentences totalling seven years after hearing legal arguments from attorney-at-law Melrose Reid that the identification evidence was very poor and the trial judge should have upheld the no-case submission.

Murray has described his acquittal as “victorious” but bemoaned the fact that he lost everything, even his dignity, while he was incarcerated. His three young children also suffered significant hardship because of his ordeal.

People in his community of Red Hills, St Andrew, described Murray as a first-class mason and said they knew he was not involved in any criminality.

Murray was in Stony Hill doing construction work last week when he took time out to speak with The Gleaner about his disappointment with the poor handling of his case and the years it took just to get the transcript.

“Something must be very wrong with our justice system if I as a poor, innocent man have to wait so long for my appeal to be heard. Therefore, I am begging the Government to act swiftly to stop this injustice,’’ Murray pleaded.

Over the years, lawyers and appellants have been complaining about the delays in getting transcripts, and the Court of Appeal on occasion, has frowned on the inordinate delays.

“This is a total disgrace,” said senior attorney-at-law Leonard Green, who is president of the Advocates’ Association of Jamaica.

“A system that relies on an inadequately staffed cadre of court reporters will never be able to provide timely judgments. We have not had any shortage of initiatives to address this problem.

“The fact is that we have had very few persons who have been willing to be trained as court reporters, and those who are qualified are able to find alternative employment locally and overseas,” Green said.

“For the Jamaica people to have a workable system, there must be the political will to invest in modernisation of court-recording services in light of the existence of available technology to do so,” he added, noting that some of the current reporters are individuals who have been taken back on contract after their retirement.

Murray, in commenting further on his plight, highlighted the fact that he had never stolen anything in his life. He said his main focus at all times has been to give his children - ages 13, 11, and nine - a good life.

“I am now in the process of getting a lawyer to assist me to mount a lawsuit against the Government because I lost more than $7 million when my freedom was taken away, and I really suffered during my incarceration. I am eternally grateful to my lawyer, Miss Melrose Reid, who took interest in my case and was instrumental in getting me acquitted by the Court of Appeal,” said Murray.

Terrible conditions

Murray was arrested in February 2016 following a robbery incident in Mandeville, Manchester. Murray, at the time of his arrest, was farming on land his mother had leased in Manchester. He farmed sweet potatoes, yam, escallion, gungo peas, cassava, and other crops.

“In addition, I had about 900 chicken in a coop, four big hogs, but they were stolen along with a motorcycle I owned because I, who was an innocent man, was locked up,” a disappointed Murray recounted.

“Prison is not a bed of roses,” he said as he described the terrible conditions behind bars. He said he now suffers from back pains and his sight deteriorated while in prison.

“Right now I need $50,000 to buy a pair of eye glasses,” he said.

Murray was convicted in the Gun Court Division of the Manchester Circuit Court of charges of robbery with aggravation and illegal possession of firearm and sentenced in 2017 to a total of seven years’ imprisonment. He filed an appeal in December 2017 against his convictions and sentence but the hearing of his appeal was delayed because the transcript of his trial was only sent to the Court of Appeal Registry on January 17.

Murray would have been released from prison in November of last year if he had not appealed. Last year, the Court of Appeal granted Murray bail pending his appeal because of the length of time he spent in prison waiting for his appeal to be heard.

Reid, who represented Murray, argued several grounds of appeal, one of which was that the identification evidence was poor and the trial judge should have upheld the no-case submission.

Evidence was given at the trial that about 9:30 p.m. on February 16, 2016, Murray who was armed with a machete, and another man who was armed with a gun, robbed a man and a woman on Bally Holly Road in Mandeville, Manchester, of a cellular phone and $13,400.

Murray’s defence was that he was at a political rally in Mandeville when he heard a gunshot and ran.

Reid argued that the case against Murray was one of “confrontation identification”. She submitted that the appellant was not known to the victims, and they were said to have identified him by moonlight.

Murray was held by the police shortly after the robbery, taken to the police station where the victims, on seeing him, identified him as one of the robbers. Reid said nothing that had been stolen was found in his possession.

“This case was badly handled. It was tried on flimsy evidence, not that a robbery had not taken place, but who committed the robbery is still at large,” Reid said.

Reid, in asking the court to quash the convictions, argued that the trial judge accepted the evidence of the victims without applying his mind to the law and properly analysing the case to establish how he arrived at a guilty verdict, based on all the legal issues that arose in the case.

The court will give its written reasons for freeing Murray at a later date.