Devon plans appeal says his mother

Devon Anglin, who spent his 26th birthday in jail on Sunday, plans to appeal his Friday murder conviction, and is likely to cite inconsistencies in the video evidence.

Saying she was “devastated” by Chief Justice Anthony Smellie’s verdict on Friday afternoon, and subsequent pronouncement of a mandatory life sentence, Anglin’s mother, Katina, briefly described her feelings.

“It was devastating. He is my only child and he has been sentenced to life in prison.

“I need to make sure now,” she said, “that his friends and the rest of his family and loved ones know this is not the end of the road.

“The next step,” she said, will be to submit for an appeal, using the same powers of the court system, and how the Chief Justice detailed the evidence. We will take advantage of the system.”

Mr Smellie on Friday afternoon, in a two-and-a-half hour High Court session, convicted Anglin of the 10 September, 2009, murder of Carlo Webster in the Next Level Nightclub.

Describing the “outrageous arrogance displayed by the killer,” Mr Smellie said the anonymity of two crucial eyewitnesses – one who saw Anglin shoot Webster and another who saw him leave the club, within minutes of the murder, tucking a gun into his waistband – had not undermined their “accuracy and veracity”.

The trial marked the first use of a new law allowing witnesses to offer anonymous testimony, employing voice distortion from a remote location.

He also cited closed circuit TV evidence from the 1-15 December judge-alone trial, Anglin had been in a fistfight with the victim, making him the only person in the club with motive, he said, and that ‘the man in the striped shirt “ had been involved in a fistfight with Webster and a third patron, an argument in the restroom with Webster and, finally, the shooting.

Anglin, wearing a striped shirt, according to witnesses, had argued with Webster in the restroom after the fight. Anglin pursued Webster out of the restroom. The first shot rang out 20 seconds later.

Anglin’s appeal is likely to point to problems not only with anonymous witnesses and their potential threat to justice, but also with the closed-circuit TV evidence. None of the club’s 11 cameras covered the area of the shooting, while the CCTV infrared lighting washed out colours, making stripes indistinguishable.

In convicting Anglin, however, Mr Smellie said witness identifications had overcome those problems.

Speaking afterwards Chief Superintendent John Jones told iNews  Cayman the verdict had vindicated the police.

“We have seen the anonymity law work,” he said. “A dangerous and evil person has been put behind bars for the rest of his life. Witnesses have come forward and we hope more will come so we can make the Cayman Islands a safe place to live. This shows we will honour our commitment to them [witnesses] to protect them.”

Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryll Richard, had not answered by press time whether she would proceed with an appeal of Anglin’s summertime acquittal in the shooting death of 4-year-old Jeremiah Barnes, killed by a gunman on 14 February 2010 at the Hell Road gas station.

Visiting Justice Howard Cooke cleared Anglin of the crime, resulting in a vow by Police Commissioner David Baines to appeal the decision.

Katina Anglin yesterday declined to comment on Friday’s decision, saying only she felt as strongly as Mr Baines had in August, but said her son was ”managing”.

After the verdict was announced, she said, “when he got up and started to move down the stairs, it was not like he was getting up to leave, but he thought the proceedings were finished. Life is mandatory after all.

“He is very strong and very resilient and he’ll manage it,” she said.