PRESS RELEASE: Catalogue of errors leads to a miscarriage of justice in St Kitts and Nevis
- News
- 1 Aug 2024
After a legal battle spanning 20 years, the Privy Council has today quashed Nardis Maynard’s conviction, calling it a miscarriage of justice. Today’s judgment exposes the systemic failures of the justice system and the litany of errors in Nardis’ case to date.
Failures in Nardis’s case
Nardis was convicted in St Kitts and Nevis in 2004 for the murder of Ernest Henry. He was originally sentenced to life in prison but has always maintained his innocence, saying that he was at home with his family at the time of the killing.
The entirety of the case against Nardis at trial was based on evidence from bystanders to the offence identifying him. There were fundamental inconsistencies in the witness’s evidence which were not explained to the jury. There was no forensic evidence that implicated Nardis and significantly, none of the witnesses identified him when giving their first account of the offence, although they would go on to say that they had known him all his life. The witnesses only identified Nardis two days after his arrest, after speaking to a police officer.
Both this and the failure of the judge to remind the jury that Nardis had not previously been convicted of an offence led the Privy Council to conclude that it would “…plainly be a miscarriage of justice… to sustain the conviction.”
There were also concerns that his legal representation at trial and on appeal was inadequate, falling below the requisite standard in a case which could have resulted in a death sentence being imposed. Nardis’s trial lawyers took inadequate steps to prove his defence of alibi; no witnesses were called in Nardis’ defence, despite his instructions that his family could corroborate that he was at home during the time of the offence. His lead counsel, Dr Henry Browne KC, did not speak to him at any stage during the proceedings, a fact that was highlighted by the Privy Council in their judgment today as “less than satisfactory preparation for trial commensurate with the gravity of the charge” causing the justices “considerable disquiet”.
Nardis appealed against his conviction and sentence immediately following the trial. On the morning of the hearing before the Court of Appeal in 2006, Dr Browne withdrew his application to appeal against his conviction without Nardis’s consent. Nardis would only find out about this eight years later.
Bringing the case to the Privy Council
In 2014, following the withdrawal of his appeal, Nardis wrote to The Death Penalty Project, a UK-based legal action NGO requesting free legal assistance with his case. We found there had been material and serious errors in his case, both by his former legal representatives and the trial court, that together rendered Nardis’ conviction unsafe.
Working with a new legal team in St Kitts and Nevis and barristers in the United Kingdom, The Death Penalty Project resolved to re-open Nardis’s case arguing that numerous errors had led to a trial which was unfair and ultimately, a serious miscarriage of justice. For further information on our role in the proceedings to date, please see our website here.
Almost 20 years after his trial and conviction, we brought his case to the Privy Council, the highest court of appeal for St Kitts and Nevis. The Privy Council has now quashed Nardis’s conviction and advised that his case be remitted to the Court of Appeal to consider whether there should be a retrial.
There are concerns as to how the numerous errors in Nardis’s case can be overcome to ensure that he now receives a fair trial. His brother, a key alibi, sadly passed away in 2012. The prosecution will have to show that satisfactory witness evidence can now be given almost 20 years after the initial offence, accounting for the discrepancies in the identification evidence at trial.
Nardis’ conviction in 2004 was a result of a series of errors in the trial and appeal process, that resulted in the Privy Council finding that there had been a miscarriage of justice leading to the quashing of his conviction. We will continue to represent Nardis in the Court of Appeal and will argue that a retrial, given the history of the case, would not be in the interests of justice.
Saul Lehrfreund, Co-Executive Director of The Death Penalty Project said:
“We are delighted that the Privy Council has quashed Nardis’ conviction and recognised that he has suffered a miscarriage of justice. We have represented Nardis for some 10 years and will continue to fight for him following today’s judgment to secure a positive outcome in the Court of Appeal. Twenty years after his original conviction and with a litany of errors in the justice system spanning two decades, we will strenuously argue that a retrial will not be in the interests of justice.”
Notes to editors
The Death Penalty Project
The Death Penalty Project (DPP) is a legal action NGO based at, and supported by, London legal firm, Simons Muirhead Burton LLP. The organisation has special consultative status before the United Nations Economic and Social Council. DPP provides free representation to people facing the death penalty worldwide. It uses the law to protect prisoners facing execution and promote fair criminal justice systems, where the rights of all people are respected.
For interview requests, quotes or more information please contact [email protected]
The Legal Team
Nardis was represented by Siobhan Grey KC and Richard Vardon of 18 St John Street Chambers (UK), and Talibah Byron of Bryon & Byron (St Kitts and Nevis), instructed by The Death Penalty Project at Simons Muirhead Burton LLP.
The Privy Council
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, or ‘The Privy Council’, is the final court of appeal for the UK overseas territories and Crown dependencies, and for those Commonwealth countries that have retained the appeal to His Majesty in Council or, in the case of Republics, to the Judicial Committee.
Sitting at the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the Privy Council is formed of the Justices of the UK Supreme Court, and presides over criminal, constitutional and civil appeals of the States and Overseas Territories which appeal to The Privy Council.
The Privy Council judgment
See the judgment here for Nardis Maynard v The King.