Two people had their sentences reduced by the Court of Appeal this month following a change in the Firearms Law.
A third man had his appeal dismissed.
Joshua Alexander Brown and Adalberto Zuniga had each received a sentence of 10 years after pleading guilty in Grand Court to possession of an unlicensed firearm. They were sentenced after the Legislative Assembly passed a bill that made 10 years the mandatory minimum sentence.
That was in November 2005.
In January this year, legislators passed an amendment that provided for the possibility of a lesser sentence of seven years when the offender pleads guilty.
Attorney Ailsa Williamson, on behalf of Brown, was the first to raise the point of law. Solicitor General Cheryll Richards said the Crown agreed that the new amendment applied.
Brown pleaded guilty in February 2007 to having a Taurus .38 revolver and one round of ammunition in June 2006. He said at the time he had found it in a neighbour’s yard.
Ms Williamson also argued there were exceptional circumstances in Brown’s case because he was 17 at the time of his offence.
She said UK law makes a distinction between offenders older than 18 and younger than 18, but the Cayman Firearms Law makes no mention of age. The Youth Justice Law applies to someone 16 years or younger.
Brown had the gun about a day and a half and it was never used, not even brandished.
Court president Justice Edward Zacca conferred with Justices Ian Forte and Elliott Mottley, then announced their decision.
He said, even taking a holistic approach, they were not satisfied that any of these factors individually or collectively amounted to exceptional circumstances.
The court imposed the term of seven years.
Zuniga was not represented, but Ms Richards advised that he was applying for the sentence reduction under the amended law.
Justice Zacca said the court was prepared to make his sentence seven years.
Zuniga, a Honduran national, had pleaded guilty to importing a Czech Republic police semi-automatic handgun in March 2006. He accepted knowledge of the gun, which officers found under his bed aboard a cargo vessel that docked in George Town. The gun had not been declared and no one aboard the vessel had a licence for it.
The sentencing judge had recommended Zuniga for deportation at the earliest opportunity and the appellant brought this to the attention of the court.
Justice Zacca said the judges could not tell him when he should be deported – he had to apply to the governor.
A prison officer confirmed that Zuniga would be assisted in preparing his petition.
Attorney Nicholas Dixey appeared for Maricelle Manahan, who received the ten year sentence after a trial.
He was charged with unlicensed possession of a .22 caliber Marlin rifle, six rounds of ammunition and a magazine for ammunition in June 2004 – more than a year before the mandatory minimum sentence became law.
The issue at his trial was whether Manahan was in possession of the items – he alleged they were planted there and that admissions he initially made against himself were the result of police intimidation.
After a jury found Manahan guilty in August 2007, the trial judge said the offence certainly warranted a lesser sentence than the mandatory 10 years, Mr. Dixey told the court.
He argued that, under the new amendment, Manahan was entitled to be sentenced under the Firearms Law as it existed before November 2005.
The court agreed with this submission. However, Justice Zacca said, having regard to the fact that Manahan did not plead guilty, the court was satisfied the proper sentence was 10 years. That was an appropriate sentence under the old law, he noted.
The court’s reasons will be put in writing, the president said.
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