Kirk Gordon’s murder case in several courts

kirk gordon

It has been seven years since the murder of Arthur Ellis who was severely beaten and left for dead while entering his vehicle on Kraal Road.  The fatal attack on Ellis on the night of November seventeenth, 2003 was sensational because he was allegedly killed by a close friend during an altercation over a parking spot.  His accused murderer, Kirk Gordon, was remanded to the Hattieville Prison until July fourteenth, 2006 when he was sentenced by Justice Troadio Gonzales to life imprisonment.  Gordon, who was represented by Senior Counsel Simeon Sampson appealed the decision of the Supreme Court and lost.  The case was then forwarded to the Appeals Court which upheld the Supreme Court’s ruling. But Gordon went further to the Privy Council in London which at the time was the highest court of judicature for the country of Belize.  While the matter meandered its way through the judicial system for four years, the recent change from the Privy Council to the Caribbean Court of appeal.  Today, that decision was sent via email to Sampson who explained to News Five that the ruling can be considered a slight victory for Gordon because the Council has reduced his crime from murder to manslaughter on the basis that the judge misdirected the jury and the jury were wrongly denied the opportunity to consider Gordon’s caution statement.  That verdict will now require the Court of Appeal to review the matter for sentencing.

Simeon Sampson, Attorney for Kirk Gordon

simeon sampson

“We went to trial in 2006, we lost.  He was convicted of murder.  We went to the Court of Appeal in 2007, we lost.  He was convicted, the conviction for murder was upheld soon we went to the Privy Council.  The hearing came on on the nineteenth of May 2010 and they handed down that decision this morning in London and we got a partial success in that this conviction of murder was set aside and the substituted a conviction for a manslaughter and they will make an order that the case be remitted back to the Court of Appeal for sentencing when next the Court of Appeal sits in Belize in October.  In the next eight or nine weeks from now, sentencing for manslaughter. It was a partial success I thought he was going to get off scotch free but”

Isani Cayetano

“Now that the case has been remitted back to the Court of Appeal [uhm] are you looking forward to a lesser sentence at this point?”

Simeon Sampson

“Well he has been sentenced to life imprisonment which was automatic.  The prosecution did not ask for the death penalty.  That’s the reason why at the close of the case for the prosecution and the verdict of guilty of murder was, automatically the best the judge could have done was life, as against hanging in the bad days of old.  So now a determinate sentence will now be set by the Court of Appeal.  Five years, ten years, fifteen years, twenty years, twenty-five years as against life because life is life.”

Isani Cayetano

“You mentioned that a determinate sentence will be handed down by the Court of Appeal is that going to be retroactive or is it from that particular day forward?”

Simeon Sampson

“Well that will depend upon advocacy.  In the best interest of my client I will fight that.  To use the expression back ah Kolbe prison ‘ah wahn back mih remand time.’  The judges of the Court of Appeal will decide, taking all the facts into consideration whether the sentence they will impose will run from the day of sentence or whether they will include a retroactive element in the sentencing period that they will impose. It’s hard to say.”

There are two additional cases of murder that are pending before the Privy Council that were transmitted through Senior Counsel Simeon Sampson.  The cases include that of accused murderer Erlin White and Phillip Tillett.  Both men were found guilty of separate crimes but were defended in court by attorney Oswald Twist.