Witness interference nets jail

The dignity of court proceedings must be maintained, Justice Howard Cooke told Jerry Hunter before sentencing him to nine months imprisonment for interfering with a witness.

Incidents leading to the charge happened in February in Cayman Brac, where both Hunter and victim Kirk Brown lived. Mr. Brown is the nephew of Hunter’s wife.

Hunter initially pleaded not guilty and trial was scheduled to start last week, but he then entered a guilty plea.

Crown Counsel Elisabeth Lees said the maximum sentence is seven years.

She explained that Hunter was first charged with causing grievous bodily harm to Mr. Brown in March 2009. That trial was set to start in Grand Cayman on Monday, 28 February this year. On the Friday before, 25 February, Mr. Brown was in Mrs. Hunter’s car in a church parking lot. Hunter walked toward him, shouting at him about why he was in that car and then proceeded to argue about the court proceedings scheduled for the next week.

Mr. Brown told him, “I wish this whole thing would go away.” That seemed to calm Hunter down. Mr. Brown then left the scene.

Shortly afterwards, when he was home with his father, Hunter came to his house and said if he had to go to jail he would see to Kirk Brown’s personal death. Mr. Brown again spoke with him, telling him it was for the court to decide; it was not in Mr. Brown’s hands.

At that point Hunter left the premises. A little while later he returned with a male seated in his vehicle. He left the male in the vehicle, came to the house and told Mr. Brown, “This is the man who is going to cause you bodily harm.”

Ms Lees told the court that Kirk Brown’s father was present and heard Hunter say it would be best if Kirk would drop the charge, and if he went to jail he was going to get someone to kill Kirk.

Justice Cooke said he was not writing down that last part because words to the father were not a threat to the son. Ms Lees said she wanted the information on record.

She also produced a statement from Kirk Brown in which he said, “I feel threatened by Jerry Hunter and I believe he is mad enough to proceed… I am in fear of my life and for others around me.”

After the last incident, the matter was reported to police, who found Hunter and arrested him.

The judge asked about the circumstances of the original attack in 2009. Defence Attorney John Furniss explained that Mr. Brown and Mrs. Hunter were in a vehicle that was involved in an accident. Hunter went to the scene on foot. A witness saw Hunter pull Mr. Brown from the vehicle and a fist fight ensued.

Mr. Furniss said Hunter was upset because he thought his wife had been seriously injured. The only weapon he used was his fist, but Mr. Brown received a fractured cheekbone. The victim was hospitalised, probably because of the combination of the fight and the accident, Mr. Furniss suggested.

Ms Lees confirmed that when the grievous bodily harm charge did come to court, Hunter pleaded guilty. On 15 July, he was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment. It was noted that he had previous convictions.

In passing sentence for interfering with a witness, Justice Cooke made it clear that the nine-month term should not begin until the 16-month term has been served.

The judge called Hunter’s behaviour egregious and said it muddied the crystal-clear stream of the administration of justice.