(Image source: http://www.manchetknopen.com)
With a ‘Not Guilty‘ verdict handed down by a Jury in last weeks murder case were 21 year old Issa Alleyne, son of prominent Attorney-at-Law Peter Alleyne was acquitted on murder charges with respect to the death of Wayne Dalrymple. The incident occurred on Carnival Tuesday 2006 when a man was reportedly seen stabling the deceased.
According to one Reporter for the Chronicle Newspaper, Mr. Carlisle Jno Baptiste who after following the Wayne Dalrymple murder case proceeding for the last four days found that the prosecution case was weak, and they were unable to show substantial evidence to prove that it was Mr.Alleyne who committed the crime. He went to say, that if there is any doubt in the minds of the member jury – the end result would be to rule in favor of the accused. And therefore he sees the verdict handed down to be just.
The courts decision to set Mr. Alleyne free was not taken easily by many Dominicans, including the mother of the deceased, Norma Dalrymple. She expressed great disappointment in the police and justice systems here in Dominica, and I can honestly say that anyone understand why she feels that way. Also one can argue that the decision to acquit Alleyne of all charges rested on the position that his father holds.
It really saddens me that with two eye witnesses and camera view the prosecutors couldn’t get a guilty verdict in this murder case. I would really like someone to explain this to me, until then it is my belief that the Justice System has failed the people yet again. Which mother is next to see another murderer go free?
My question to the Police Public Relations Officer Mr. Claude Weeks – What happens now, do we file this case like all the other unsolved murder cases? My God people… someone lost their life.
This is so disturbing because there is a tendency to believe that persons can commit murder and get away with it. This murder case has made a mockery of the Justice systems here in Dominica. What next should persons do? I’m afraid if the murders continue and the police are unable to apprehend the criminals, people will be forced to take matters into their own hands. Given all the number of illegal guns circulating around, it is not far-fetched to think that people will their justice themselves. Something’s gotta give.
Are we concerned about getting a guilty verdict regardless of whether the person is innocent? The camera view did not show Alleyne or anyone conclusively, which is one of the reasons why the DEFENCE called for it to be shown, but the prosecution never tried to get it admitted as evidence. The only eye witness who said that he saw the accused stated that he had on an orange shirt (the shirt was red – it was a WCK band shirt, they only had red and white), and also never had to identify the person in a lineup. Also, and this is VERY substantial – there was a young man from Bath Estate who was found with a bloody knife in his pocket – he was trying to hide it and the police saw him. They questioned him and released him! He said that he picked it up on the street… he knew Dalrymple, but he and Alleyne had no connection. Now… my question is … why was the person who was found with a bloody weapon released???? he has now skipped the country, and people are busy trying to pin the murder on Alleyne, because his father is a lawyer…. JUSTICE must and should prevail. My condolences to the Dalrymples for the loss of their son’s life, and to young Alleyne for having lost over 2 years of his life, and much of his good reputation, for a crime he did not commit.
Wow! Thank you so much for picking through the dust and making sense of a terrible situation which has resulted in the loss of a loved son on the part of the Dalrymple family and the loss of two and a half valuable years on the part of Issa as well as a dark cloud over the Alleyne family which now has to deal with, along with Issa, a number of unsubstanciated and vindictive accusations from persons who either have not taken the time that you have taken to assess the case and the evidence, or are intent on doing damage in whatever way possible to a family which has Dominica at it’s heart! These unfortunate events should never have taken place. No one wishes this to happen to either family but this is the situation that we are faced with. Once again though, we have a few persons who have thier own motives pushing ideas into the minds of those who do not quite understand the legal system and creating a climate of hostility towards the Alleyne family for whatever reason instead of taking the time, like you have, to access what actually took place in the courts, what was presented and what was not, who asked for what and who refused, who was arrested and who wasn’t, who should have been arrested and questioned and why weren’t they, where are they now, what was thier possible involvement etc? Instead, they are flying all sorts of accusations and claiming that the family is responsible for all sorts of things when the justice system, when you look at the facts, HAS IN FACT WORKED as it should………if there is insufficient evidence to convict, one has to be found NOT GUILTY!!!!!!!!!!
Again, we have to say that a family has lost a loved one and that it is only natural that they will want someone to answer for that loss. We all should understand that and feel for them and share with them that sense of loss. We owe it though to the young man who lost his life to make sure that we sift through the entire case, all the evidence availiable and analyse all that is known to be factual in an attempt to, in an intelligent and unbiased way, come to understand what may have happened on that unfortunate day.
It is just good to see that there is one person doing just that, after seeing so many who have not taken the time to. Thanks again and let’s hope that we may oneday come to the truth!!!!
It is sad to know that this young man lost his life in this way. I sympathise with his family. However, we must presume that the defendant was innocent until proven guilty. No justice system is perfect, however, and there will be innocent people who will be condemned as well as guilty ones who will be set free. It is easy to be emotional about what might appear to be a miscarriage of justice.
But I was not there when it happened. Were you? If indeed he did do it, can we say that the not-guilty verdict was a fault of the police, the procecution or both? Was the jury presented with overwhelming evidence? Did the prosecutor make a convincing argument? Were the witnesses effective and believable without a doubt? Did other (probably more effective) witnesses deliberately stay away from coming forward? I do not know the answers to that, but the jury has spoken and short of an upheld appeal, the defendent will remain free. I do not subscribe to a perception that the defendent (if guilty) got away by virtue of the standing (of his father in society), though he may have had the advantage of effective representation in court. Let us be objective in the review.
Let us not be too quick to judge and condemn, though clearly there are lessons to be learnt by all. But let’s look at the underlying cause of these types of violence occuring at these times (carnival). How can we prevent or mitigate this? Is it just an expected fact that these will happen? What does this say about the wider society? What part does music, social values and wide availability of alcohol served to youth, for example play in this? How can this be curbed? Dominica prides itself on the spontaenity of carnival, but how does that contribute to the violence? Could that be curbed by regulating how the carnival is run (eg some countries allow only revellers in a band or outfit to follow the band). I do not have answers for everything, but I think there should be an effort at community discussion on these things. We can not just accept them as just something to be expected or try to deal with them after they occur. There is a role to be played by everyone in formulating the best measures for the good of society and it is not up to just lawmakers and the police to prevent.
Pete – you know what I found yesterday, while attending a workshop on Cyber-Crime facilitated by the Monroe College, EU, and Regional Management office. I raised the issue of the video evidence going missing to one the lawyers who worked the prosecutors case. And to my surprise, she told me that the Evidence Act in Dominica does not accept video footage as a form of evidence in high court cases.
Can you believe this? In 2008 – with all the technological advancements – the laws of Dominica makes video evidence unacceptable in High Court Cases. My apologizes goes to the prosecution team for my earlier statements – they had no chance – when all the vital evidence were frown out by the court.
As I said earlier – Once again the Justice System here in Dominica have let down the people, and this time it goes even further.
Chris
This is incredible, and a travesty. I know there was an amendment many years ago to the Evidence Act in 2001. Can you find out whether there was a subsequent revision?
In general, technology is not only under-utilized in many institutions in the Caribbean, but some are loath to change the old ways and move on with the new – sometimes for no good reasons I might ad. I wonder whether it is also a case where the law association has not pushed for such reform (again I am making some assumptions here) because it is convenient for the organization? We can open this up into discussion on the wider topic of the role of technology.
What about issues like freedom of information and electronic archiving of legal and/or public documents and information etc. And to see how this is relevant in the legal sense, how can someone attempt to mount his own defence in a court case without certain freedoms to discover and access evidence and to allow use of available information/evidence?
I am no legal scholar but out of curiousity I did some brief research. It turns up that some years ago, The Commonwealth Secretariat did put together a Commonwealth Regional workshop on law and technology.
Interestingly out of that workshop, here’s what I found out from the Barbados presentation:
“There is no Electronic Evidence Act. However, the Electronic Transactions Act
amended the Evidence Act to widen the definition of “document†to include
information stored or recorded on tape recorder, computers or other devices and the out
put of such data. The Act also makes electronic records legally admissible in evidence. ”
Why isn’t there a specific Electronic evidence Act in Barbados for example, although other countries may have one? Considering that this in this day of money laundering, electronic fraud, surveilance tampering and other high crimes, one would think they would have that separately on the books. This is very interesting.
Now here’s is what Dominica reported:
“We do not appear to have legislation respecting technology except for a few provisions
in the Evidence Ordinance Cap. 64, the Laws of Dominica, providing for the
admissibility of statements contained in documents produced by computers. The
admissibility of such statements relates to both civil and criminal proceedings. The
relevant Act is the Evidence (Amendment) Act 2001, Act No. 1 of 2001.
Nevertheless, the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica (the Government)
has given the emerging electronic environment a prominent position on its agenda.
This positioning is informed by several factors respecting the application of information
and communications technologies. First, the Government is mindful that information
and communications technologies (ICT) can be a catalyst to economic and social
development….”
here’s the lip service we get from the political dictates:
“First, the Government is mindful that information
and communications technologies (ICT) can be a catalyst to economic and social
development….”
the document goes on to say:
”
Secondly, ICT are considered as appropriate vehicles for improving the delivery of
government programmes and services to its relevant constituents. A corollary to the
second factor is the expected improvement in efficiency and effectiveness of the public
service and the resulting realization of an improved quality of life for the peoples of
Dominica coupled with the improved compe titiveness of the country.
Thirdly, the Government recognizes that an integrated policy respecting ICT would
encompass effective strategies, tools and techniques to help the general populace of
Dominica. And fourthly, the Government is committed to transacting business in a
trustworthy environment based on records that are authentic, reliable, accessible,
understandable and usable..”
But:
“Unfortunately there is no single or specific document outlining the policy of the
Government respecting ICT….and “Other un-charted areas regarding electronic activities and transactions including jurisdiction of national courts, legal effect of certain actions, and the concept of electronic signature pose their own unique challenges. Moreover, the issues of identity theft, forgery and other related electronic / cyber crimes present different challenges.”
This report came from: Mr John Elue Charles, Chief Parliamentary Draftsman, Ministry of Legal Affairs, Dominica. Whilst this workshop seemed to be more focused on use of IT for government transactions and open information etc, I suppose you can read between the lines. It would appear, that though some people recognise this gap in the due process, generally the policy and lawmakers do not push the thinking that such use of elecronic means are essential and mandatory to promote efficient and transparent transactions for the good of society in this the 21st century.
See the full report at:
http://www.thecommonwealth.org/shared_asp_files/uploadedfiles/%7B7D3F51D4-02A1-42FE-A8B5-7CE08D36DDF0%7D_LawTechnologyFullReport2003.pdf
Anyway this is not meant to bash the system, just to promote awareness of some issues for consideration. There has been some movement towards openess. Witness the new government website. It has far to go, but is the step in the right direction:
http://www.dominica.gov.dm/
We must yet appluad progress, however small.
i can’t believe the man is out of jail and his parents send him away and the police sayin not guilty and the man is guilty like fuckin dog sheet and the boy that was in jail parents have to go jail as well because the son of the norma dalymrample is ding with tears off their son and they no he boi that kill their son on CARNIVAL 2006.am sorry to hear your son is dead.may god be with the dalymplaye forever more ok am shock 😯
I was very suprised when i heard that the Mr Alleyne was not guilty of the murder of Wayne Dalrymple. But if he was not guilty in the first place what lead people to believe that he was, wasn’t there some form of evidence which lead him to be accused of the crime. This is one of the many murder cases that has been thrown away like this, i believe that the justice system in dominica is very weak and that members of the upper class class always get away which things in this country because of the privileges of money. If Alleyne was not guilty why the need for all of those lawyers, was his word not strong enough? My condolences goes out to the Dalrymple family, no one knows the pain you all are feeling. Alleyne may be free in the eyes of the justice system but not in the eyes of God and if he has commited this Crime i think he should come forth and admit that he did it, it is better to for your reputation to be spoiled among man but not God for he sees all and knows all.
A very good answer. I was not there either and don’t know the facts. I was surprised to read that an acquittal can be appealed. Does the law permit double jeopardy?
Or would this be an appeal of a dismissal, not of a not guilty verdict?
Dan
I was referring to appeal of a dismissal but come to think of it, there may not be a case of that in this case, because this was a not guilty verdict right?
In the US we execute the innocent:
High court turns down Ga. death row inmate
Justices halted cop killer’s death to consider appeal; execution to resume
The Associated Press
updated 10:28 a.m. ET, Tues., Oct. 14, 2008
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court cleared the way Tuesday for a Georgia man to be put to death for killing a police officer, two weeks after it halted his execution to consider his appeal.
In a case that attracted involvement by such luminaries as former President Carter and South Africa Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the man, Troy Davis, had asked the high court to intervene in his case and order a new trial because seven of the nine witnesses against him have recanted their testimony.
The justices granted Davis, 39, a reprieve on Sept. 23, less than two hours before his scheduled execution. But they declined Tuesday to give his appeal a full-blown hearing.
The court’s stay of execution also expired with the appeal’s denial, allowing Georgia to set a new date for Davis’ execution.
Davis was convicted of killing off-duty police officer Mark MacPhail in 1989. At his trial in 1991, prosecutors said Davis approached McPhail with a “smirk on his face” and shot and killed the 27-year-old officer who was moonlighting as a security guard at a bus station in Savannah.
But seven witnesses who helped put Davis on death row have since recanted their statements. Three other people have said one of the witnesses who testified at Davis’ trial later confessed to killing the officer.
Amid the concerns, Georgia’s pardons board postponed Davis’ execution in July 2007, less than 24 hours before it was to be carried out.
A divided Georgia Supreme Court twice rejected his request for a new trial, and the pardons board turned down his bid for clemency last month after considering the case again.
Check back later for more details on this developing story.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27179641/
And, we acquit the guilty (OJ Simpson)
with regards to the most recent not guilty verdict which was handed down at the high court in favour of the son of Attorney at law peter alleyne,i beg to sensitise the general public that the police had played their part in presenting the matter to the court and it was left to the members of the jury to do the rest which they didnt do.i think it is time that dominicans get out of their ignorance and narrow minded and stop throwing unnecessary blame on the police.further more carlisle jno.baptiste know nothing about law and police procedures as it relates to investigations and the gathering and presentation of evidence.therefore he is in no position to babble about police didnt present the case properly ect.i would just like carlisle to outline to me since he seem so verse in law procedures the ingredients one must prove to convict a person on a charge of murder.police officers are the last set of people to arrive on a murder scene and therefore with the absence of forensic they must rely on eye witnesses who are willing to assist them in their investigations and by extension presenting the mater before the court.in this particular instance the police presented overwhelming evidence to the extent that an eye witness testified under oath and hear some of what he said.”i was standing on a porch when a flash drew my attention to a young man on the side walk,being a police officer in my country i kept my eyes on him and noticed he had a knife in his hand.i saw him walk into the crowd and stabed another young man several times with the knife.i kept my eyes on him and never lost sight of him till the local police arrested him shortly after.”that knife was also presented in evidence.other witnesses also testified and identified that same accused he had blood on him ect.if you are a reasonable thinking person tell me where the police blondered this case.the judge and the jury are the ones responsible for leting that criminal loose and this was done purposely because of the accused father position,his uncle brian alleyne and also the judge favoured him because they all in the legal profession.police had nothing to do with it they played their role to the best of their ability.we dominicans are too quick to blame police officers when things happen.we need to work with them ,respect them and support them its not only when we are directly affected we should look up to them ,they are human beings like all of us.on a second point politics is responsible for all this violence and lawlessness in dominica.when government will give police,teachers,nurses,doctors and prison officers their rightful place in society peace will reign.can you imagine students cursing and beating teachers in schools and politics players are not saying a word about it because they want a vote.nurses and doctors are being attacked ,police officers cant do what they have too because politics players advise them to take legal actions against them and transfer them to all odd areas when allegations of police brutality are made against them.where there is no law there will be no peace.stop puting the blame on police look at the bigger image.
Wat about the innocent st.Lucian who was brutally beaten by the police, suffered 9 broken ribs and a collapsed lung. and so many more too numerous to mention. Will the police continuously keep getting away with these these things?