Derek Achong
A High Court Judge has quashed the life sentence being served by a 46-year-old man of Tunapuna, convicted of murdering a maxi taxi conductor over a $2 fare more than two decades ago.
Justice Frank Seepersad made the order as he partially upheld a constitutional claim from Glenroy Bishop.
In January 2002, Bishop was convicted of murdering Michael Cabral on December 21, 1994.
Bishop, formerly of Macoya Settlement, reportedly dropped off at Basilon Street, in Tunapuna and did not pay the fare.
Cabral challenged Bishop, who drew a firearm and shot him in his head at point-blank range.
Bishop was arrested by police while fleeing the scene.
Bishop lost his appeals before the Court of Appeal and the United Kingdom-based Privy Council but the latter commuted his mandatory death penalty to life imprisonment as the five-year deadline for carrying out the sentence, under the Jamaican case of Pratt and Morgan, had elapsed.
In his lawsuit, Bishop is relying on a more recent landmark decision from last year, in which the country’s highest appellate court ruled that convicted murderers who benefit from commutation should not receive automatic life sentences but rather defined sentences based on the unique circumstances of their cases.
Dozens of murder convicts with effectively commuted sentences have pending similar constitutional claims in a bid to be resentenced.
In response to the lawsuit, the Office of the Attorney General claimed that Justice Seepersad did not have jurisdiction to hear the case as the recent precedent set by the Privy Council is allegedly inconsistent with its previous decision in Bishop’s case.
The position was rejected by Justice Seepersad, who said it was without merit.
Justice Seepersad said the suggestion that Bishop should approach the Privy Council for relief was illogical.
He also stated that while citizens may be critical of Bishop’s case and others currently before the court, they had to understand that even convicted criminals have to be afforded certain protections under the Constitution.
As part of his decision in the case, Justice Seepersad transferred it to the Supreme Court Register for it to be assigned to a colleague in the criminal division, who would conduct the resentencing.
Bishop was represented by Christophe Rodriguez and Joash Huggins, while Nicol Yee-Fung, Ebo Jones and Ryan Grant represented the AG’s Office.