Soufriere murder case goes to the Supreme Court

During its March 24 to 28 sitting in Dominica, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) will hear a number of outstanding matters.

Among these is a motion from Chartered Accountant Kieron Pinard- Byrne who is seeking final leave to appeal to the Privy Council in his matter with United Workers political leader Lennox Linton.

Earlier, Pinard-Byrne sued Linton for defamation in in the High Court and won but Linton appealed the matter at the Court of Appeal and won when the ECSC ruled 2-1 that Linton had "qualified privileges" when he accused Pinard- Byrne in the Layou River Hotel building scandal. Pinard-Byrne wants the law lords of England to review the ECSC decision.

Another matter expected to occupy the attention of the judges of the Supreme Court is an application/motion by convicted murders Herbert Xavier et al who are seeking the leave of the court to rely on affidavit evidence. They are also appealing a High Court criminal appeal against convictions for murder. They were convicted in 2012 for the murder of their brother Harrison Williams.

The jury in the High Court decided that on September 24th 2010 at Soufriere Lauretta and Herbert Xavier and Manuella Williams who was involved in an altercation with their brother killed him during the fight. Herbert Xavier is represented by Wayne Norde while Lauretta Xavier is represented by Dawn Yearwood Stewart; Roland Charles is the lawyer for Manuella Williams.

Their lawyers are not appealing the sentence the judge imposed but have filed about 10 grounds of appeal against the conviction.