Do not let emotions be a factor in determining the guilt or innocence of Marlon King on a charge of beating his four-year-old stepdaughter to death. Justice Anthony Carmona stressed this point to jurors yesterday as he began summing up the Amy Emily Annamunthodo murder trial in the San Fernando First Criminal Court.
"Emotions must play no part in your deliberations," he said, adding that justice will not be served if jurors infuse sympathy for the child or the accused in the deliberation process. The judge also stressed that speculation, gossip, biases, prejudices, pre-conceived notions about stepfather and stepchildren relationships, domestic violence in common-law relationships, automatic pre-judgement against police officers must not be considered when deciding King's fate. Carmona stressed to the jurors that they are to base their verdict solely on the evidence from the witness box and statements in the case.
Indicating that crime was at an unprecedented level, he cautioned them about being swayed by the cries of the vulnerable and voiceless, widely publicised in the press. He told them the post mortem report detailing her injuries or the photographs of her body must be the subject of cold analysis. King went on trial last September for allegedly murdering Amy at his Ste Madeleine Road, Marabella home on May 15, 2006. It is alleged that he strung up the child by her hair and punched her 20 to 30 times. Summing up will continue today.
