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The life imprisonment sentence of Roger George, age 47 of Colihaut, has been commuted to 15 years resulting in him now being a free man.<\/p>\n
George, who was found guilty of the murder if his girlfriend in 1999, was sentenced to death by hanging on October 21 of that year.<\/p>\n
According to the facts of the case, the deceased, Elfra Joseph, and George had relocated to Dominica from Saint Maarten in 1998 and lived in separate homes.<\/p>\n
On November 9, 1998, Joseph asked George to meet him to have a conversation as she wanted to end their relationship because he was not supporting their child.<\/p>\n
They met, spoke and George then left on his motorcycle. However, moments after the pair was seen walking on the street and the deceased was later heard screaming and George was seen stabbing Joseph. Joseph was subsequently taken to the hospital but died on the way.<\/p>\n
The pathologist who was assigned to the matter described Joseph as having received multiple incision wounds, three of which penetrated her chest cavity.<\/p>\n
The following year, a jury found George guilty of murder and he was sentenced to death but this was later commuted to manslaughter by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) on March 27,\u00a0 2000, and he was sentenced to life in prison.<\/p>\n
Through his lawyer Zena Moore Dyer, he appealed to the court of appeal on October 4, 2019, asking the court to review his sentence as \u201ctime served\u201d but that application was dismissed.<\/p>\n
He then went back to the High court and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Evelina Baptiste consented stating that given the new learning in law George had served his time.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, George was brought before High court Judge, Justice Wynante Adrien-Roberts for a fixed term for the offense.<\/p>\n
In handing down her decision to commute the life sentence, Justice Adrien-Roberts started with the maximum penalty for the charge of manslaughter, 15 years.<\/p>\n
Her Ladyship did not add or reduce any time as the file of the case could not be found and based on this, she stated she could not weigh the mitigating and aggravating factors.<\/p>\n
She did however take into consideration the social inquiry report, which said that George is amenable to rehabilitation and has improved himself academically whilst incarcerated which will go towards his benefit of seeking employment whilst reintegrating back into society.<\/p>\n
From the report, it was also made known that George though incarcerated, was afforded the opportunity to develop a relationship with his son and they continued to share good relations.<\/p>\n
George had also expressed remorse and had apologized and made amends with the deceased mother and children.<\/p>\n
As of August 2020, the defendant was reported to have served 23 years in prison, as such he was discharged for time served.<\/p>\n
Meantime, the State also discontinued a matter against Garth James Lewis who was charged with Taking Conveyance.<\/p>\n
Lewis was accused of stealing one Suzuki Escudo jeep and several other items from Christopher Dangleben on February 21, 2011, with a total value of $27,257.00.<\/p>\n
Though his matter was discontinued, he had to remain in jail as he is in custody for another matter.<\/p>\n
Among other matters from the court, the State did not accept a guilty plea of Unlawful Wounding from Ishmael Hudson Vidal who is charged with Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH) with intent and Unlawful Wounding.<\/p>\n
Vidal, who is accused of causing GBH to Nyron Jeffers on June 27, 2015, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge. However, the DPP did not accept his plea and asked for a trial.<\/p>\n
The matter was adjourned to February 19, 2021, for case management and the accused will remain on remand until such time unless an application for bail is made for him.<\/p>\n
The State did, however, accept a guilty plea of Unlawful Wounding from Thomas Poponne Jr. who was also charged with causing GBH with intent, to Gerald Ettienne, in Fond Cole on November 24, 2020.<\/p>\n
Poponne’s bail was continued in his own recognisance in the sum of $25,000.00 as he awaits sentencing which is set for February 26, 2021.<\/p>\n
Francis Theodore of Portsmouth is also on bail awaiting trial after having pleaded not guilty to GBH with intent and Unlawful wounding.<\/p>\n
Theodore is accused of causing GHB to Anderson Drigo on February 19, 2019, in Portsmouth. He was asked not to interfere with the Virtual Complainant\u00a0 (VC) and any other State witness as part of his $10,000.00 bail condition.<\/p>\n
Two men who also pleaded not guilty to sex-related matters, are also on bail awaiting trial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The life imprisonment sentence of Roger George, age 47 of Colihaut, has been commuted to 15 years resulting in him now being a free man. George, who was found guilty of the murder if his girlfriend in 1999, was sentenced…","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":196734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,77,235,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-court-law","category-homepage","category-homepage-carousel","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n