32 year-old Wyatt Anderson, who was convicted of manslaughter on February 3, 2011 for stabbing his brother-in-law, 27 year-old Robert Brown to death, had his appeal heard today, but it in the end, it was dismissed.
Anderson was tried and convicted before Justice Adoph Lucas, who sentenced him to 14 year in prison. His attorney, Kevin Arthurs, submitted before the Justices of the Court of Appeal that the trial judge made a mistake in allowing the case to go to the jury after the prosecution closed its case, which effectively excluded the defence's attempt to make a no-case submission.
He also pointed out to the court that the judge did not properly direct the jury on how to treat Anderson's caution statement. In response to the submissions made, the DPP, Cheryl Lynn Vidal, submitted that the prosecution provided sufficient evidence so that the jury could have properly convicted, which provided the judge with legal grounds to send the case to the jury for determination. She also submitted that the usual directions were unnecessary in this case because the appellant did not object to the statement - in fact, that he even repeated its contents in his unsworn statement.
After considering the submissions the Appeal Court dismissed Anderson's Appeal, and upheld the conviction.
