Archive for August 20th, 2010
Schirn murder verdict sticks
(CNS): The appeal made by Randy Martin against his conviction for the murder of Sabrina Schirn has failed and the guilty verdict will stand. The appeal was argued by his attorney Adam King on two grounds, firstly that the judge in Martin’s trial had not given proper consideration of evidence that someone else could have committed the crime and secondly that he misinterpreted evidence of a witness. After a full day of submissions by King and the solicitor general Cheryl Richards QC, the president of the CICA Sir John Chadwick said the panel was satisfied that the appeal should be dismissed and they would reveal their reasons in writing at a later date.
Martin was convicted of murdering Schirn in January 2010 in a judge alone trial in front of Justice Charles Quin. King submitted to the appeal court the argument that the judge had not fully considered in his ruling the material put before him that there was a possibility that the murder had been committed by Lance Myles. King said that in a 62 page judgment he had given only some twelve lines over to the question of Myles, which had played a significant part in the trial, and had not explained his reasons for dismissing the evidence if that was what he had done.
King claimed on behalf of the appellant that the judge had not explained his position on the material that showed Myles had motive because of threatening phone calls, had opportunity because there was an empty window in his cell communication around the time of the murder and that he had given a false alibi. Given what he said was the weight of the evidence that Myles could have been responsible for Schirn’s murder, King argued the judge should have made it clear exactly why he had dismissed that evidence when he found Martin guilty.
The attorney suggested that the trial judge had ‘fudged the issue’ as it could have presented a minefield for him if he could see a possibility that Myles might have been at the scene. “the evidence was too substantial for him to have ignored it” King told the appeal court, suggesting that he had deliberately avoided dealing with it.
The second ground King put forward was that the judge had said a witness that he had relied upon had given evidence that the man he saw getting into a car near the prison farm on the morning of Schirn’s murder might have been lighter skinned than the defendant. However, King pointed out that the witness had never used the word “might’ and on the stand he had indicated clearly that the man he saw had lighter skin than Randy Martin. King suggested this misuse of language had implications that the judge had misinterpreted evidence.
In her response to the appeal Richards noted that the judge had considered the material regarding Myles and made it clear that he had dismissed it. She also argued the evidence put forward by the defence that Myles could have committed the crime was far from significant and not in the least bit probative.
During their line of questioning the appeal court judges also suggested that the material supporting the Myles theory was very speculative and could be seen as becoming “further and further fetched” as they pointed to various flaws in Kings theory. Judge Dr A O Conteh noted that for the appellant’s theory to work Randy Martin must have been at the scene and witnessed his nephew commit the crime if indeed it was true, but at no time had Martin made that direct accusation in any statements or on the stand.
The judge said that the defence had chosen to make a case based on pointing the finger at Myles but he had never actually said “my nephew did it”.
King pointed out that Martin’s position was indeed that when he left Schirn she was alive and that he did not know who had committed the murder.
Following the decision King said it was too early to say if he would be taking the case to the Privy Council but confirmed that once the human rights act came into force Martin would be seeking to have the mandatory life sentence re-considered.
Following the decision by the court to allow the appeal of William McLaughlin Martinez on Tuesday sending it back to the Grand Court for a retrial, this dismissal is likely to come as a relief to the prosecution, however, the solicitor general made no comment on the decision.
The badly decomposed body of Sabrina Schirn was found a week after she was reported missing in the wilderness close to the former prison farm at High Rock in East End. She had likely been murdered with a machete or similar sharp blunt instrument however, no murder weapon was ever recovered. Martin was arrested shortly after following the discovery of forensic evidence linking him to the scene and to the murder victim.
Garbage patch discovered in Atlantic
(Independent): A huge expanse of floating plastic debris has been documented for the first time in the North Atlantic Ocean. The size of the affected area rivals the "great Pacific garbage patch" in the world’s other great ocean basin, which generated an outcry over the effects of plastic waste on marine wildlife. The patch which was discovered to the east of Bermuda, consists mostly of fragments no bigger than a few millimetres wide. But their concentrations and the area of the sea that is covered have caused consternation among marine biologists studying the phenomenon. Kara Lavender Law from the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, said the size of the Atlantic "garbage patch" was roughly equal to the one in the Pacific..
"The Pacific has received more attention in terms of plastic accumulation but we know less about the Pacific so it’s very difficult to compare the Atlantic patch in terms of size. We had a cruise this summer to try to find the eastern extent and in fact we failed to find it," Dr Lavender Law said.
Small fragments of plastic could pose an even greater menace to marine life than the larger fragments that become entangled with animals such as albatrosses and turtles, she said. "We know that smaller pieces of plastic are eaten and it’s unclear what happens to that plastic then. But clearly biological organisms were not designed to eat plastic," she said.
Why not Pedro?
Much has been said about a cruise ship docking facility on Grand Cayman. We are probably the last place in the Caribbean to realise we need such a facility. What are we waiting for? Until all ships have bypassed us and like services to our people and visitors? We have gotten so complacent; we let them wait weeks and months for a simple approval.
Wake up! We are no longer living in a time when we can hold up progress by just not doing our work and allowing all kinds of obstacles to distract us. We are living in a very competitive world, education being a key component. Good manners, honesty and impeccable service – the countries that have these will succeed.
Our economy, like all countries in the world, is in trouble. We must be creative and again look for that crystal ball that helped Cayman in the past. The cruise ship dock looks like it will cost $200 million, presumably CI dollars. This is a lot of money for this country. I am not an engineer, but I believe we need to use good old common sense.
Why don’t we do this dock on the ironshore of Pedro St. James Castle? Government has a fair amount of ironshore land here and, if needs be, could purchase more reasonably. I understand the water next to the ironshore is at least 300 feet deep – no need to dredge.
Put as many finger piers as is needed and far enough apart that the cruise ships can come in between the piers and land their people. These piers could be covered and on a big enough land area with adequate restrooms and eating places to comfortably take care of the arrivals. Use videos to welcome our guests. At the end of each pier, have a Caymanian giving discount books, including special return airline and hotel fares, and a general information brochure on the Island.
A good public transit company should be formed, allowing only Caymanians and status holders to buy in, limiting the amount of shares for company or individual and allow present tour bus companies and taxis to purchase up to 70 percent. Visitors would be bussed over the Island to attractions such as duty free/gift shops, the Turtle Farm and the Botanic Park.
Have a designated area for booked water sports and those who are interested in doing water sports. Let these operators pick up their people and save time.
The deck at Pedro would be a better sheltered area and ships should be able to dock there almost every day of the year versus docking in George Town, where in the winter months it is plagued with northwesters. That is the busiest time of year and ships will have to pass us by.
I am sure we would save half of this $200 million, save the environment and save time. Cruise ship arrivals is a big industry; every person should have bread on the table.
Pedro Castle is here and close by. It is a huge dug out area across from the ironshore in Pedro. Government should assist the owners to use this as a lobster, shrimp and conch farm. This would be a great attraction. A fee could be charged and it would make money as well as generate food.
What has happened to the cruise ships’ offer to build a dock? This would be good business to have the people who will use the dock involved. They are the ones that will pay for the project.
If Pedro is used for the dock, government should add dock space for visiting yachts. Let’s save our God-given treasure, the North Sound, for future generations to enjoy.
Remember Cayman is a low lying island in the path of hurricanes and earthquakes. We should not be excavating our shores.
This is precious time we are dealing with.
Once these ships have moved out, it will take a while to get them to return or they may never do so. Let’s do the right thing for Cayman. Let’s start now. Delay is dangerous. We are losing business. Together we can make Cayman a better and more successful island. Let’s start.
Judge rules banks should reveal Madoff reports
(Bloomberg): HSBC Europe’s biggest bank, should turn over internal reviews of potential fraud and other operational risks at Bernard Madoff’s business from 2006 and 2008, a New York judge has ruled. US Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland agreed to seek an order from the High Court in London forcing HSBC to hand over reports, contracts, audio recordings and documents related to examinations of Madoff’s firm conducted by an affiliate of KPMG International. HSBC acted as custodian bank for several funds that invested with the con man. The last review was commissioned by HSBC in September 2008, about three months before Madoff’s arrest, according to the ruling.
Randy Martin to appear before appeal judges
(CNS): The man who was convicted in January this year of the murder of 21-year-old Sabrina Schirn will have his appeal heard this morning. Randy Martin is the second person convicted of murder to appear before the three judge panel during this Court of Appeal session. On Tuesday the judges quashed the conviction of William Martinez McLaughlin, who was convicted in July 2009 by a jury of murdering Brian Rankine Carter, and ordered a retrial. Martin was found guilty following a judge alone trial and sentenced to the mandatory life sentence. Attorneys will now argue a case for overturning that verdict before Appeal Court President Sir John Chadwick and his colleagues, Justice E Mottley and Dr A O Conteh.
Port EIA done, no results
(CNS): According to a statement by government officials, the proposed cruise berthing development is still on track and DECCO Ltd. (Dart) will be undertaking the project, despite the fact that the MOU signed in April has expired. MLA Cline Glidden said that negotiations are almost complete and the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) has been done by CD Howe Company (Canada & Cayman) and DHI (Danish Hydraulics Institute), assisted by specialist subcontractors. However, the results of that work were not revealed nor has a start date been given for what is now believed to be a much bigger project. Glidden said that the project would be completed by October 2012 and government would be revealing more details next month.
Shift change ups cop presence
(CNS): The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service has changed the way its shifts operate in order to boost the number of officers available and offer more flexibility for police cover. With police numbers still falling short of full capacity, the police commissioner has said that the change to shifts has increased staff cover by about 20%. David Baines explained that officers are no longer working four days on, four days off on a twelve hour shift but are now working staggered shifts across five days that vary in length from eight to eleven hours, starting at different points in the day. The visibility of officers and insufficient numbers were two issues of concern raised during the latest police public meeting in East End. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)
Drunk driver takes out traffic lights
(CNS): Police are asking drivers to take care this morning at the junction of Easter Avenue and Godfrey Nixon Way because the traffic lights are not working as a result of a motor vehicle accident. At around 2:20am this morning, Friday 20 August, a Honda Accord was travelling along Easter Ave heading towards Shedden Road when the driver lost control and collided with the traffic lights. The male driver sustained minor injuries and was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. The car received major damage to its front end. (Photo by Dennie Warren Jr)