June 27 - July 3, 2020
TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS
NEWS
9
Convicted murderer to serve full sentence after appeal dismissed BY DELANA ISLES THE COURT of Appeal has upheld the decision of the trial judge in the Malik Cox murder trial as being reasonable and supported by the evidence. Judgement in the appeal was delivered in late May, following arguments held in September 2019 before president of the court Sir Elliott Mottley, K Neville Adderley and Roger Hamel-Smith. Cox stood trial before judge Shiraz Aziz for the murder of Andreika Stubbs on December 18, 2018. He was subsequently convicted by a jury and sentenced to serve life in prison. The appellate court’s decision reads: “...the role of this court is not to determine whether an appellant is guilty. “That is the function of the jury or the judge in the case of a trial by a judge alone... the court is of the view that the decision of the judge is not unreasonable and can be supported, having regard to the evidence. “Further, that there has been no miscarriage of justice and consequently the appeal is dismissed and the conviction is affirmed.” Cox’s lawyer, attorney Lara MaroofMisick contended in her appeal that the testimony of Anthony Francis - who was previously charged with Cox in Stubbs’ murder - is not reliable and was only given by way of inducement from the Crown. In April 2016, Francis was charged for Stubbs murder, discharging a firearm, discharging ammunition and causing grievous bodily harm to Tyrone Smith. Gunshot residue was found on Francis’ hand and in his car, which was established as the getaway car. During the investigation by the police
Malik Cox will serve his full life sentence for killing Andreika Stubbs in 2018
a decision was taken to grant immunity to Francis. He subsequently entered into an immunity agreement with the Director of Public Prosecution for his testimony against Cox, who was identified as the shooter by other eye-witnesses. Francis had told police that he had given the appellant a lift in his car to Danny Buoys, which they later left and visited the Versace nightclub and bar. Sometime later, Francis exited the club, and was liming in the parking lot area near a jerk chicken shack. He said he saw Tyrone Smith with someone else, also in the parking lot. He then heard someone shout “how it goes”, followed by a gunshot and he ran. “While running, he glanced around and saw the appellant who was some distance away behind him. He heard two further gunshots. He ran toward his Chevy Cavalier motor car. “While in the car, Francis heard a knocking on the window. It was the appellant who asked him to give him a lift to his home. “While he was driving past NAPA (a
business on Leeward Highway), Francis asked the appellant what had happened. “The appellant told Francis that ‘those boys try to bus me, so I bus back’. It was at this point that Francis realised that there was a firearm in ‘Malik’s hand’.” Cox was also convicted on the testimony of Tyrone Smith, who was shot and injured in the hail of bullets. Smith’s court testimony detailed a brief confrontation he had with Cox, after he saw Cox leaning on a car with someone else before he pulled out a gun and fired in his direction. Smith testified that he dived between some cars and then ran back into the club, where he discovered that he was shot in the back of his leg. But none of this was mentioned in the first statement Smith gave to police when he was in the hospital. Instead this was mentioned in a second statement, given almost three weeks later, the credibility of which the appellant has questioned. During the trial, Smith testified that the police did not tell him that the appellant
Developers halted as they block beach access VILLA developers at Sapodilla Bay were told to drop tools on Thursday (June 25) as their work began to encroach on public land. Deputy Speaker Hon. Dwayne Taylor visited the site with experts from the Planning Department and asked them to halt construction work pending a review. The visit came following complaints from residents on social media that the beach access was being compromised. Public access to TCI’s beaches is a matter of much contention, as developers are often found to be blocking the footpaths.
Last year residents complained when mounds of quarry barred the only access to Babalua Beach located on the west side of Turtle Cove. While in 2018, there was a heated confrontation on Taylor Bay over public beach access. Following this, the Government committed to conducting an assessment of beaches across the TCI to distinguish public access. Minister of Tourism Hon. Ralph Higgs said the Government would be releasing a report of that assessment which will identify clearly all beach accesses.
“We’ll identify those which are suitable for any sort of development and we will earmark some that will not be subjected to any commercial development,” he said. Since the Government assumed office, a moratorium was placed on further development and removal of beach accesses. The Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (DECR) urged anyone obstructing public beach access to cease such actions. It said anyone contravening the above will be charged to full extent of the law.
had been arrested. Rather, the police asked him to tell the truth, since they said that his first statement did not make much sense. Smith had explained to the court that he wanted the police to do their job. Cox’s appeal was based on these two factors, pointing to a lack of credibility on the part of Francis and Smith. The defence lawyer contended that the trial judge erred in his approach to the evidence of Francis in circumstances where there was an obvious and powerful inducement in force at the time of his giving evidence. The lawyer also alleged that the judge failed to take into account lies and inconsistencies within the evidence of Francis which arose in cross examination. But counsel for the prosecution in the appeal submitted that in addition to evidence of Francis, there was sufficient independent evidence on which to convict the appellant. It was argued that there was never any suggestion or any evidence, that the appellant was never at the scene of the shooting or did not leave the scene after the shooting. In his judgement, the trial judge stated that Francis came across as a credible and honest witness in the witness box, not only in what he said throughout his evidence-in-chief and cross examination, but that the court also took into account his demeanour. In its judgement, the Court of Appeal stated: “It was submitted, in our view correctly, that the weight to be placed on evidence was within the province of the judge.” The appellate court said it is mindful that the trial lasted six days (excluding the day of the judgment), and that the trial judge saw and heard the witnesses; as such, he was able to observe their demeanour when they gave their evidence and was in a position to form an opinion on their truthfulness. “This court recognises the importance of the advantage which the judge had in seeing and hearing Francis and Smith when they gave their evidence and in observing their demeanour especially under cross examination. “In this case, the credibility of Francis and Smith was of paramount consideration and was the issue for the judge in arriving at the verdict of whether the appellant was guilty or not. “This court is not in a position to dispute the undoubted advantage which the trial judge had in seeing and hearing the witnesses and observing their demeanour. “This court accepts that the insight gained by the trial judge who has lived with the case for several days…may be far deeper than that of the court of appeal.”
