Report No. 37 (1998) IACHR. Petition No. 11.815 (Trinidad y Tobago)

• Year: 1998
• Report Number: 37
• Petition Number: 11.815
• Case Type: Admissibility
• Court: Inter-American Comission of Human Rights
• Respondent State: Trinidad & Tobago
• Alleged Victim: Anthony Briggs

REPORT Nº 37/98; CASE 11.815; ANTHONY BRIGGS; TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO; May 7, 1998 I. BACKGROUND 1. By letter dated October 7, 1997, Ms. Paula Hodges of the London firm of Solicitors, Herbert Smith, presented a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter "the Commission") against the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (hereinafter "the State" or "Trinidad") on behalf of Mr. Anthony Briggs, presently under sentence of death at the State Prison in Port of Spain. The petition stated that on June 21, 1996, in the High Court of Trinidad at the Port of Spain Assizes, the petitioner was convicted with his co-defendant, Mr. Wenceslaus James, of the murder of Siewdath Ramkissoon, and sentenced to death. Precautionary Measures 2. Simultaneous with the presentation of the complaint, the Applicant requested the Commission to issue precautionary measures, pursuant to Article 29(2) of its Regulations, and to seek a stay of execution pending the determination of the complaint by the Commission.; 3. On October 16, 1997, the Commission requested the State to stay Mr. Briggs' execution "until such time as the Commission has had the opportunity to consider this case and issue its decision." The Commission requested "an immediate consent to the above request."; 4. The State of Trinidad and Tobago did not respond to this request for precautionary measures. The Commission regrets that the State party was not prepared to grant the precautionary measures requested under article 29(2) of its Regulations, not to execute the Petitioner while his case was under examination, since the State party considered the complaint inadmissible. The Commission observes that it is not for the State party, but for the Commission, to decide whether or not a complaint is admissible. The Commission requests the State to cooperate fully with the Commission's examination of communications in the future. II. PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION 5. The petitioner and his co-defendant appealed their convictions to the Court of Appeal of Trinidad and Tobago. Their appeal was dismissed on March 6, 1997. In the Judgment, the Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction and sentence imposed upon Mr. Briggs and the co-defendant. According to the complaint, "The sole ground for appeal was that a material irregularity had occurred in the course of the trial in that a prior inconsistent statement on oath of the witness Brown was not put into evidence for the consideration of the jury. As a result, it was likely that a miscarriage of justice could have occurred." The complaint stated further that "No grounds were submitted for appeal against the correctness of the Trial Judge's summing up in respect of his `felony/murder' direction to the jury, neither did the Court of Appeal on its own motion address the issue despite the fact that the felony/murder rule no longer applies in...