High Court sessions resume after closure due to COVID-19

Eleven men accused of various offences including murder, wounding and sex-related crimes were due to appear before resident judge, Justice Wynante Adrien-Roberts, at the Roseau High Court on Tuesday September 22, 2020 to plead one way or the other to the charges against them at their arraignment.

The three murders occurred at Goodwill, Woodford Hill and Vieille Case. Three men are accused of unlawful sexual intercourse and indecent assault while three others faced charges of grievous bodily harm and unlawful wounding.

One man is charged with taking a conveyance at St Joseph while another in Marigot is accused of malicious damage.

The jurors selected for the September hearings will have their orientation at the High Court on Monday, September 14, 2020.

Suspended due to COVID-19, the criminal section of the High Court last met in January, 2020. The civil division has been meeting via ZOOM.

There are 14 other matters carried forward from the past two years and more for case management on September 23 and 24 before Justice Adrien-Roberts. Among these are four murders all in the hands of experienced criminal lawyer Zena Moore-Dyer. The accused are Luhanson Javeed Pascal, Kervin Mason, Yannick Lander and police officers Martin Seaman and Devin Challenger for the death of a man in police custody in Portsmouth.

Mrs. Dyer also has an attempted murder accused to represent during the case management sessions.

Another murder accused, Sherman Webb of Kingshill, will be retried for the death of a 23-year old Barbadian, Corey Rohan Poleon in March 2010. A jury of five women and four men found Webb guilty in July 2012 before Justice Birnie Stephenson. The OECS Supreme Court of Appeal ordered a retrial on an appeal of the verdict by Defence Counsel Peter Alleyne. The late former Director of Public Prosecutions Gene Pestaina and State Attorney Arthlyn Nesty prosecuted the case for the state.

Counsel Kondwani Williams will represent Webb.