Sheldon Brown was sentenced to 22 years imprisonment yesterday after being found guilty of attempted murder,
The jury’s guilty verdict came just before 4pm on Monday and Mr. Justice Dale Sanderson asked to be advised of sentences in previous cases of attempted murder.
The Penal Code states that a person convicted of attempted murder is liable to life imprisonment. Life is therefore the maximum sentence, not mandatory.
Yesterday the judge indicated that he had considered various authorities on the subject. The closest local precedent, he said, was a sentence of 18 years handed down to two teenagers for a shooting related to drugs.
Brown, 36, was convicted of attempting to unlawfully kill James Fernando Martin on the night of 17 August 2004 at the Cayman Islander Hotel. The complainant was shot at least three times, with injuries to his upper torso, knee and hand.
After the guilty verdict was announced and the jurors excused on Monday, Paul Purnell QC spoke only briefly about sentencing. His client wished to address the court directly.
Brown told the court he did not commit the crime. He acknowledged he had not conducted the best life, which, he felt sure, had contributed to the guilty verdict. There was nothing in is favour to say in mitigation except that he did not commit the crime. He felt his dignity was taken away by asking for anything else.
Yesterday, Mr. Purnell commented on Brown’s record of 22 previous convictions. He asked the court to draw a line between offences before and after 1994. Two pre-1994 sentences were for unlicensed firearms, he acknowledged, but the firearms had not been used to commit an offence.
Brown was sentenced in 1994 for conspiracy to commit robbery, released in 1998 and was trouble free for two or three years. After that his convictions related to drugs.
Mr. Purnell asked the court to consider that the Crown’s case against Brown was mounted on motive, which related to the specific personalities of Brown and the complainant. There was therefore no need to pass a sentence sending a message of deterrence.
Mr. Sanderson then asked Brown if he wanted to add anything to what he had said the previous day. Brown reiterated that he was not guilty. He said he knew his sentence would be life or something close to that.
It was unfortunate that this incident had happened to him when he had decided to lead a productive life, he told the court. The verdict was one of undue influence and public perception, Brown said.
Before passing sentence, the judge briefly reviewed the evidence. He noted the three principles generally involved in sentencing: protection of the public, deterrence, rehabilitation of the offender. He considered all three in this case.
The criteria for a life sentence include an offence grave enough to warrant a long sentence; an offender of unstable character and likely to commit offences in the future; consequences of the offence that are especially injurious to others.
Brown had no previous convictions for using a firearm and no substantial conviction for violence except robbery.
The maximum sentence is for the maximum offence, the judge pointed out.
In this case, the injured man was a witness for the Crown in court cases. His shooting was therefore an attack on the administration of justice in this country, the judge said. See page 5.
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