Randy Fraser and other big court matters of 2011

Wed, Dec 28th 2011, 10:32 AM

The titillating trial of Bishop Earl Randolph Fraser ended on November 29 with the prominent pastor being jailed for having sex with a teenage congregant who had come to him for counselling.
Members of the public followed the Fraser trial since 2006 when the lurid allegations of misconduct were made.
His teenage accuser alleged that Fraser plied her with gifts and had sex with her on the floor of the office of his Pilgrim Baptist Church before he conducted services.
Fraser's semen found on carpeting of the church office seemed to corroborated these claims.
Fraser claimed the semen was a result of intercourse with his wife, Jacqueline, after they set up home in the building when there were power cuts at their home in Eastwood Estates.
However, Deputy Chief Magistrate Carolita Bethell did not believe Fraser or his wife.  She convicted Fraser of abusing his position of trust by engaging in a sexual relation with a dependent.
She jailed him for three years, two years short of the maximum.
Fraser attempted to get bail pending an appeal of the conviction, but appellate court justices refused the application.  The appeal is set for February.
Also in 2011, calls for the implementation of capital punishment increased in the face of a rising murder rate.
The Privy Council in June overturned the death penalty for Maxo Tido, the first person ordered to hang after the mandatory imposition of the death penalty was abolished in 2006.
The Privy Council ruled that the death penalty should be reserved for the most heinous cases.  The Court found that the murder of Donell Conover, Tido's 16-year-old victim, was dreadful, but he did not deserve to die for his crime.
A jury found Tido guilty of brutally murdering Conover in 2002.  Her body was discovered battered and bruised and her skull crushed.  Evidence also revealed that parts of Conover's body were burned after her death.
Senior Justice Jon Isaacs will resentence Tido on February 10.
In an unrelated matter, Isaacs delivered a landmark ruling on the electronic monitoring program.
Accused drug dealer Melvin Maycock Sr. was tagged with an ankle bracelet as a condition of his bail on charges of conspiring to bring a shipment of drugs into the country.
Apart from ordering Maycock to report daily to the Central Police Station, Isaacs did not impose any other restrictions on Maycock.
However, staff from the electronic monitoring center took it upon themselves to limit Maycock's movements.
Maycock said he was ordered to return to the mainland while in a dinghy off Potter's Cay on June 18, 2011.
He went to the Central Police Station, where officers from the Drug Enforcement Unit arrested him. Maycock was detained at the station for two days and was only released after he agreed to conditions set by Inspector Lightfoot and another man regarding his mobility.
Isaacs said, "While a person may consent to limitations placed on his freedom of movement, it ought not be done in circumstances where the individual has already been the subject of limitations imposed by the court."
Also making headlines this year, in a 10-day span in May, three men accused of murder were acquitted on orders of judges who raised concerns about police investigative techniques.
Richard McKinney who was accused of the February 5, 2010 murders of Lashon Davis and Omar Smith was acquitted after the trial judge questioned the conduct of an identification parade.
A judge refused to allow the confession by Hilfrant Joseph who was on trial for the June 2007 murders of Denise Neely-Clarke and Felix Johnson.
The judge ruled that the interview at the Carmichael Road Police Station was inadmissible because police did not give the suspect food or drink prior to the interview.
Another judge dismissed the case against Quincy Johnson in his second trial for the August 23, 2000 murder of Denise Walker.
The judge deemed Johnson's confession inadmissible after learning that police did not tell Johnson of his right to have an attorney during the interview.

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