MARLON King is hoping to petition the Privy Council in London to challenge the Court of Appeal’s order that he should face a new trial for the brutal murder of his four-year-old stepdaughter Amy Emily Annamunthodo.
But since there is no order for a stay of the retrial from the Appeal Court, Justice Hayden St Clair-Douglas, who has been assigned the case, intends to proceed with the new trial, he said on Wednesday.
On July 29, the Court of Appeal ordered the new trial to be case-managed and heard expeditiously, as far as practicable, and to be immediately placed on a judge’s docket for case management.
The first case-management conference must be held no later than August 9, the court ordered.
Almost immediately it was assigned to St Clair-Douglas, who held the first case management conference on August 4.
King had successfully argued his appeal against his conviction, which was quashed by a three-member Court of Appeal panel.
The court found several faults with the trial judge’s handling of his case in 2012.
On Wednesday, King reappeared before St Clair-Douglas. One of his attorneys, Karunaa Bisramsingh, told the judge efforts were being made to proceed with an appeal at the Privy Council.
She said Peter Carter, King’s previous attorney, told her he had already made contact with attorneys in the UK to file the relevant documents for the appeal there, and the only document outstanding for that process was the transcript of the Appeal Court’s oral ruling.
In those circumstances, Bisramsingh said lead attorney for King at his new trial, Mario Merritt, suggested that the case-management conference and progression of the case should not move at full speed.
However, St Clair-Douglas enquired if there was any order from the Appeal Court to stay the retrial, and when Bisramsingh said there was none, he said he wouldadjourn the case to September 22.
On that day, the judge wants Merritt and Carter to be present. He also said since there was no order from a superior court, he will proceed with the retrial according to the Court of Appeal’s ruling for it to be expedited.
He ordered Bisramsingh to take instructions from King in preparation for the trial.
King was sentenced to hang for Annamunthodo’s murder when he was convicted by a jury after six days of directions by then Justice Anthony Carmona.
Annamunthodo was tortured and beaten to death and hung from her hair. King was charged with killing the child – who weighed 33 pounds, was unable to speak properly and was under-developed – on May 15, 2006 at his home at Ste Madeleine Road, Marabella.
King was in a common-law relationship with Annamunthodo’s mother, Anita.
Medical evidence was led that Amy was burnt with cigarettes an hour before she died. She suffered multiple internal and external injuries.
State attorney Indira Chinebas is prosecuting.
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