Court Dismisses Kevaughan Staine’s Appeal of Attempted Murder Conviction

Kevaughan Staine

Late this evening, the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal from twenty-one-year-old Kevaughan Staine, upholding his conviction for the attempted murder of Taisha Staine.  Kevaughan was found guilty in October 2018 and was sentenced to ten years in prison for the attempted murder of nineteen-year-old Taisha. His attorney, Hubert Elrington, argued that the trial judge erred when he allowed a dock identification into evidence. Elrington explained that a dock identification should be supported by an identification parade, which didn’t happen. However, Senior Crown Counsel Sheiniza Smith argued that the dock identification had served no real purpose since the accused was well-known to the victim. In her testimony, Taisha pointed out that on December thirty-first 2013; she had an unobstructed view of the accused as he opened fire on her. After the court hearing, Attorney Elrington spoke to the media about what transpired in court.

Hubert Elrington

Hubert Elrington, Attorney

“She brought a case from the Privy Council which seems to be changing the law as it has always been applied in Belize. And I suppose it is one of these situations where for maybe fifty years, the law is one way and then a judgement comes out maybe for policy reason or some other reason, the law is changed completed. That is what happened today.”

Reporter

“If the defendant indeed believes this is a case of mistaken identity, has he presented an alibi?”

Hubert Elrington

“Well basically, you don’t necessarily link the two. You don’t necessarily link alibi and mistaken identity. The rules up until now provided that the defendant would have certain protection. In other words, it is not just you say that I am the person who did this, but there has to be an identification parade and you have to demonstrate in that identification parade that you can pick me out. There seems to be a change in the law now that you can get a conviction much easier. You don’t need any identification parade again.”