Prosecution seeks life in prison for former death row inmate

Now that a death sentence is no longer hanging over the head of a convicted killer, the State is asking for the High Court to impose a life sentence on him.

The submission was made by prosecutor Neville Watson as the resentencing phase of Carlton Junior Hall’s case was heard before Madam Justice Jacqueline Cornelius.

The convict, from 2nd Avenue, Chapman Lane, St Michael, had been sentenced to hang after being found guilty by a 12-member jury of the August 14, 2011 shooting death of Adrian Wilkinson, in Speightstown, St Peter.

Hall challenged the results of the case before the Barbados Court of Appeal, which dismissed the appeal on January 23, 2019 but ordered that Hall receive a new sentence. He also went to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Barbados’ highest court, which affirmed the jury’s March 2, 2016 conviction.

However, Hall must now be resentenced by the High Court after the CCJ ruled that the mandatory death sentence for murder was unconstitutional.

In his submissions, Watson pointed to the aggravating factors of the case, saying that a firearm was used at close range to take Wilkinson’s life.

“In my estimation, it was an execution-style killing,” the prosecutor said adding that Hall was armed in advance and that there was no evidence to show that he was under “imminent threat of danger”.

Watson further stated that the crime was committed in a public place, which put the lives of others at risk; it was unprovoked; it was not spontaneous; and the weapon used was never recovered.

In his favour, however, was the fact that Hall was a young man of 20 at the time of the offence.

“It is my view that given the circumstances of this case, that a sentence of life in prison is an adequate response,” said Watson, who explained that given that Hall went the full distance of a trial he was not eligible for a discount.

However, he said the convict should spend a minimum of 35 years behind bars before being eligible for release.

But Hall’s attorneys Andrew Pilgrim Q.C., Kamisha Benjamin, and Rashida Edwards disagreed with the aggravating factors outlined by the prosecutor.

“This was a case that one could describe as a foolhardy act, if you wish, but there was no evidence that the convicted man left his home and went to kill this deceased. No evidence of that came out whatsoever in this trial,” Pilgrim said, adding that there was also no evidence his client was “stalking” the deceased that night.

“It appears to be an entirely spontaneous reaction. So, we can’t have it treated as if it was premeditated, brutal, callous and depraved when there is absolutely no evidence to support that on these facts.

“So, the aggravating factors that the [prosecutor] is asking to take into account to justify a life sentence we say do not apply,” the Queen’s Counsel added.

Pilgrim urged Justice Cornelius to take into account, when considering the sentence to be imposed, the delay in the matter as well as the time that his client had spent on death row.

Following the submissions, Justice Cornelius adjourned the case to April 5 when Hall is expected to be resentenced.