Law Lords rule for review of death sentence

The Privy Council has ruled in favour of a mentally-ill Morvant man who stabbed his 77-year-old friend to death in 2004. The five Law Lords who sat on the panel yesterday ruled that fresh medical evidence which suggested that the man, Nigel Brown, of D’Abadie, Arouca, had a mental disability should be considered by local courts in reviewing his conviction. In a 24-page judgment delivered by Lord Brian Kerr, the judges ruled that Brown’s case be remitted to the Court of Appeal to determine the “safety” of his mandatory death sentence in light of the new evidence. Brown was convicted by a 12-member jury in the Port-of-Spain High Court on February 7, 2007, of the murder of Second Caledonia, Morvant, resident Lloyd Bailey.

Although while on trial and on appeal in the Court of Appeal, no psychological evidence was presented in Brown’s defence, the opinions of two British based psychologists—Drs Tim Green and Richard Latham—were sought in his latest appeal. Kerr said: “Their opinions that Brown was unfit to plead and stand trial raise a substantial issue about the fairness of his trial and the safety of his conviction.” In his judgment yesterday, Kerr noted that the reports of both doctors concluded that Brown was suffering from a learning disability with significantly impaired cognitive functioning and impairment to functional skills. Both doctors also concluded that Brown might be suffering mental impairment from the prolonged abuse of narcotics, namely marijuana. Green in his report said that Brown fell in the extremely low category of intellectual functioning.

“Less than two per cent of the population of T&T would be expected to achieve a result lower than that of the appellant,” Green’s report noted. Brown’s appeal before Justices Stanley John, Ivor Archie and Paula Mae-Weekes was dismissed. Bailey was stabbed to death at his home on October 28, 2004. During Brown’s trial before Justice Joan Charles, Bailey’s wife Evelyn, 77, who was also home at the time of the incident, positively identified Brown as her husband’s attacker. Evelyn also sustained a stab wound to the head during a struggle with the intruder at their home.