By Barbara Gayle, Staff ReporterTHE COURT of Appeal has quashed the convictions and set aside the 10-year prison sentence of Clunis Bryan, a labourer of Knockpatrick, Manchester, who was convicted on July 12, 2002, of charges of office breaking and larceny of postal articles.
After hearing legal arguments from attorney-at-law Dwight Reece, the court agreed that Mr. Justice Howard Cooke erred in his directions to the jury.
Bryan was convicted by a jury in the Manchester Circuit Court of breaking into the Knock-patrick Post Office, Manchester and was sentenced by Mr. Justice Cooke.
A police officer had testified that at about 6:00 a.m. on August 25, 2001, he received certain information and went to an open lot in front of the post office at Knockpatrick. He said he saw Bryan who he knew before for about four years leafing through some objects. Bryan ran when he saw the police officer, who chased him but was unable to catch him.
The police officer further testified that he went to where Bryan was in the open lot and saw postal articles. He went to the post office and noticed that the locks were broken off. He then notified the postmistress and subsequently arrested and charged Bryan.
DENYING THE ACCUSATIONS
In his defence, Bryan had denied breaking into the post office. The jury found him guilty of the charges and Mr. Justice Cooke sentenced him to five years on each count to run consecutively so he would serve 10 years.
Mr. Reece argued on appeal that the judge failed to give proper directions on recent possession and also failed to define it to the jury. Mr. Reece said the judge failed to give the jury the proper direction on inferences and whether they could draw reasonable and inescapable inference that Bryan was the one who broke into the post office.
Mr. Reece argued that the judge told the jury that the case rested wholly and substantially on the identification evidence. He said because the judge did not give the jury other directions, partcularly on recent possession and inferences, it gave the jury the impression that if they found that Bryan was the one who ran then they could find him guilty of breaking into the post office.
Georgiana Fraser, assistant director of public prosecutions, agreed with the submissions made by Mr. Reece.
The Court of Appeal, comprising the Honourable Ian Forte, President of the Court of Appeal; Mr. Algernon Smith and Mrs. Justice Zaila McCalla (acting) upheld the submissions made on the issue of recent possession and inferences and freed Bryan.
