Prison terms imposed on 30 males, five females
Cayman’s Grand Court completed 113 criminal cases in 2010. That figure does not include appeals from Summary Court decisions; it is the total number of indictments in which facts were heard and decisions made. These decisions are referred to as dispositions: they may include pleas of guilty, verdicts of guilty or not guilty, or matters not proceeded with.
Indictments are the written charges against individuals accused of a crime serious enough to be heard in the Grand Court rather than the Summary Court. Some crimes can be dealt with only in Grand Court, such as murder, rape and robbery. Some crimes can be dealt with in either Grand Court or Summary Court.
The 113 indictments do not match the number of defendants appearing before the court, as some individuals faced more than one accusation. By the same token, some indictments accused two or more people of the same offence. One example is the case of the four teenagers who pleaded guilty to the Savannah Domino’s Pizza robbery; they were all named on one indictment.
The following analysis of case dispositions and criminal charges dealt with in Grand Court last year is the result of an informal study of court statistics kindly provided by the Judicial Research Analyst, combined with records kept by Caymanian Compass reporters who cover court proceedings. The writer of this report is responsible for any errors of interpretation. Summary Court cases are reported in a separate story.
In all, the 113 indictments involved 89 individuals — 74 males and 15 females.
Dispositions resulting from conviction or indicating guilt were seen in 54 cases.
There were 40 cases in which defendants were acquitted or discharged, with one further case being dismissed.
The other 18 were not proceeded with for a variety of technical or practical reasons. Sometimes the complainant had left the Island and did not wish to return; if there were no other witnesses, such as in a rape case, the Crown would have had no evidence to offer. In other instances, a review of the file after preliminary inquiry may have revealed aspects of the case that caused the Crown not to proceed.
The 54 dispositions indicating guilt were:
Probation, 9
Community service, 2
Suspended sentence, 7
No conviction recorded, 1
Conditional discharge, 1
Juvenile Rehabilitation Order, 1
Imprisonment, 33.
The number of convicted persons sentenced to imprisonment was 35 — the result of more than one person being named on an indictment and, conversely, one person being named in several indictments.
Prison terms were handed down to five females and 30 males. The offences charged in the 113 indictments covered a wide range of allegations, from theft of wheel clamps to murder. The wheel clamp case was one that could have been dealt with in Summary Court, but public interest was high and the defendant elected to be tried in Grand Court. The Crown subsequently decided to discontinue prosecution, based on the facts of this specific case. A second man charged with wilfully damaging a wheel clamp also elected Grand Court trial; a jury found him not guilty.
Crimes alleged in the 113 indictments fall into these broad categories:
MURDER
There were three indictments dealt with in 2010. One involved three defendants, one involved two and one involved one man. All six men were convicted after trial. The Court of Appeal upheld the convictions of Kirkland Henry and Larry Ricketts for the murder of Estella Scott Roberts, and of Randy Martin for the murder of Sabrina Schirn. The other three men have not yet had their appeal heard. The murder of Mrs. Scott Roberts also involved two separate indictments for abduction, rape and robbery because at the time the law did not allow any other charge to be tried with murder. The law has since been changed.
SEX OFFENCES
There were 15 indictments for charges of rape and/or defilement and/or indecent assault; eight resulted in guilty pleas or verdicts. Judges handed down four sentences of imprisonment for indecent assault and three for rape/defilement. One young man pleading guilty to indecent assault received a suspended sentence.
ASSAULT/WOUNDING
There were 14 cases of assault causing actual bodily harm, five cases of causing grievous bodily harm and two cases of wounding, for a total of 21. Five people received sentences of imprisonment.
BURGLARY
This category includes handling stolen goods, which may have been charged as an alternative, and aggravated burglary. There were 10 cases, with six sentences of imprisonment. One was dealt with as a criminal trespass.
THEFT OF GOODS OR CASH. There were eight cases of theft, with imprisonment handed down in four of them.
FINANCIAL THEFT
This category includes false accounting, obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception, illegally transferring of criminal property. There were nine such indictments, with two people going to prison. Three of the indictments referred to Robert Girvan, who pleaded guilty to theft of US$18.9 million and received eight years plus a compensation order for $4.4 million.
FIREARMS
Court statistics show 18 indictments involving firearms, but nine of them were dealt with in one trial — four men accused of various charges relating to two guns and all acquitted by a jury. Of the other nine indictments, three resulted in imprisonment.
ROBBERY
Of five indictments for robbery — theft by use of force or threat of force on a person — four resulted in prison terms. At least one of these incidents involved an imitation firearm. The fifth disposition was a discharge.
FORGED CURRENCY NOTES
Six indictments related to possession or production of false currency notes. Five of them concerned a group of high school boys. The sixth indictment resulted in a not guilty verdict.
DAMAGE TO PROPERTY
Three indictments, no convictions, but in at least one case the complainant was paid in full.
OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE
Three indictments were tried together and a jury returned not guilty verdicts.
THREATENING VIOLENCE
There were two indictments, no convictions.
CAUSING DEATH BY DANGEROUS DRIVING
One indictment; resulted in a prison sentence after a guilty plea.
ATTEMPT TO ADMINISTER POISON
There was one indictment, with a suspended sentence imposed after a guilty plea.
YOUTH COURT DEFENDANTS
Five young persons were brought to Grand Court because of the seriousness of the charges against them. The nature of the charges is not known, but the dispositions were probation, 2; juvenile rehabilitation order, 1; imprisonment, 1; no conviction recorded, 1; conditional discharge, 1.
UNKNOWN
Charges in three indictments could not be determined from available information. In one, the Crown offered no evidence; in another, the defendant was placed on probation, while a third disposition was imprisonment.
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