They were convicted of killing an elderly businessman during a robbery, and today, Brandon Hughes, who is serving a life sentence, and Jose Gomez, who was sentenced to 12 years were in court trying to have their sentences overturned.
The victim was 70 year old Oscar Rosado Sr of Rosado's Hardware. The pair was convicted in January 2023.
After 2 hours of arguments and submissions in court by attorney Orson "OJ" Elrington and David McKoy for the appellants, and Sheiniza Smith as well as DPP Cheryl Lynn Vidal for the crown, the 3 judges reserved their decision for a later date to be announced.
Elrington, who represented Hughes, argued that the conviction was "unsafe" and that no notes of evidence were provided in the original trial. Additionally, he said that the transcript was incomplete and that they were never provided with a written judgment. Here's how he explained it:
Orson "OJ" Elrington, Attorney
"I believe that we were able to put forward to the court our appeal which is essentially that the conviction against Mr Hughes would be unsafe because there is no written decision from the judge. Essentially the written decision would allow for the appellant and the court of appeal would be able to determine whether or not the trial judge misdirected themselves in applying certain facts that were not supposed to be applied, in applying evidence that was not supposed to be applied, or misapplying the law and so our submission was essentially based on the fact that since there was not a written submission, that that is grounds, coupled with the fact of course that because there is not the necessary evidence because we don't know what evidence the court relied on, that in combination with those two issues would be fertile ground for the appeal to be allowed."
And after today's proceedings, Rosado's son pleaded with the judges to uphold the conviction and spare his family the heartache.
Oscar Rosado Jr., Son of Deceased
"All I have to say is that I'm pleading and I'm asking that the judges that are taking this appeal to uphold the conviction. A retrial, this is not a game, this has to do with the feelings of my mother, myself, it's a family and I heard the lawyer on their side, on the accused say that he's here because his clients, their lives are in limbo. Thank God for them that their lives are in limbo, they're alive. My dad is dead, my dad cannot ask for an appeal. I cannot ask for an appeal, a dad, a husband, a grandfather, a friend, a brother, a son. He's gone. Don't drag us again into this. There was enough evidence, I was there, my mom was there. Nothing else. What else do you want? Her seeing everything happen right in front of her face. You cannot question that because there was not a written decision. We were there, we gave everything, the evidence is there. I don't see why drag us into this again. All I ask. Too much emotions to go through this all over, especially for my mom. I don't want to see her go through another trial. There's enough evidence and I say please, take this into consideration. These guys are guilty and let them serve their time. At least they're alive, they're not in another country where they could have gotten the death penalty. All I say to them in this time you're locked up, turn yourself, recap, change your life, turn to God, do good, that's all I can say. I can't say much more."
Orson "OJ" Elrington, Attorney
"Mr Rosado and of course it is, the murder of anybody is absolutely regrettable and he is a loved one and he is absolutely entitled to his emotions and opinion on these matters. However as legal practitioners we have to divorce ourselves from the emotions of it and what we need to ensure and what the court of appeal will need to convince themselves of is whether or not the conviction is a safe one, in law. And so ultimately, while it is that you would have a victim, what you would not want is an innocent person to spend effectively their lives in prison because of a mistake from a judge."
Hughes is eligible for parole after 30 years, while Gomez is after 8 years.
