November 5 - 11, 2011
TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS
9
NATIONAL
15-year-old convicted of murder To be kept in special institution by Samantha Dash-Rigby THE SUPREME Court has found teenager Randy Harvey guilty of murder by reason of insanity in the killing of 81-year-old Charity Higgs. Justice Edwin Goldsbrough handed down the guilty verdict Friday, October 28 in the Providenciales court, and sentencing was postponed until Friday November 25 to allow the prosecution time to identify and contract a suitable juvenile institution for the young convict. The 15-year-old was tried by a seven-member jury panel for the August 3, 2009 murder of 81-yearold Charity Higgs at her Conch Bar, Middle Caicos home. Randy pleaded not guilty to killing the woman, who cared for him and his other siblings as though they were her own, but Defence Attorney Kendle Williams said otherwise. Williams told the court that Harvey did murder Higgs but that he was insane at the time. On August 4, 2009, Harvey admitted to police investigators that he killed Higgs even before they questioned him. He said he took a knife from his home and went Higgs’ home for three sodas and two Snickers. When the woman turned away to get the snacks he took the knife from his pocket. She turned around, saw the knife, screamed and ran out of the house. Harvey ran behind her and stabbed her in the left shoulder. A post mortem revealed that the elderly woman died from that wound. The young defendant said that after stabbing Higgs, he went to the police station but no one was there so he went home. “I didn’t mean to stab her. I didn’t want do it. I shouldn’t do it in the first place, because I know it gon be trouble. I shouldn’t do it all,” Harvey told the police during an interview. University of West Indies Psychiatrist, Dr Wendel Abel, told the court that these statements are signs and symptoms of a mentally unstable person. He said that he met and spoke with Harvey earlier this year and observed some inconsistencies in his answers and speech pattern, which denoted some level of disorganisation. He returned in May, and noted that after six months of medication Harvey’s speech became more organised and his stories more consistent. He diagnosed Harvey with paranoid type schizophrenia. He explained that this disease is characterised by disturbances in the affected person’s thinking, irrational
thinking, and in ideas. There is also disorder in one’s perception, which leads to hallucinations and impulsive behaviour. A schizophrenic will also have problems with cognitive and intellectual functions and will be socially withdrawn. Dr Abel said that at the first meeting, he thought that Harvey suffered from mental retardation but after months of treatment, he no longer thought so. He believed that the young boy was schizophrenic and grossly psychotic at the time of the murder. His professional opinion remains that Harvey is still schizophrenic and if not kept on medication, he could relapse. He advised that Harvey should be kept under supervised treatment whether it be in the community or in an institution. Placing him in an adult prison is not only dangerous but also a gross violation of his human rights, the Doctor added. During cross-examination by
Principal Crown Counsel JoAnn Meloche, Dr Abel said that it is common for persons who are paranoid to walk around with weapons because they continuously think that other people intend to hurt them. However, because they are usually so disorganised in their thinking, they are unable to formulate or plan a criminal activity but, they can display impulsive and irrational behaviour. Following Dr Abel’s testimony, Samuel Harvey, son of the late Charity Higgs and minister in the former TCI government, took the stand and made an emotional statement and plea to the jury. “As much as it pains me to know that it was my mother who lost her life, I truly understand the situation from which it came,” he told the court. “I am not here to send somebody’s child to prison. I see someone’s child needs an opportunity.” Harvey continued: “We - my 10 other brothers and sisters and I do not believe incarceration is the
Randy Harvey to be sent to a juvenile facility outside the TCI
answer. “I don’t blame him even though he is responsible. I blame his parents.” The grieving man alluded to generational curses that have befallen the young offender and by extension his entire family. “The sins of the parents will fall on the children even onto the third and fourth generation,” Harvey quoted from the Holy Bible. He told the jurors that the child had no say in which family he was born into, neither could he help the fact that he was mentally challenged. “However, if it was my mother
standing here and it was one of her children who was killed, she would be saying the same thing”, Harvey said. “Forgive him. Randy needs help. He needs treatment, complete education and to learn a trade. He needs a change.” The former minister believed that the young accused could be a good person later in life. But, if he is deprived of a secondary education and locked up, after his eventual release he would return to the community in the same frame of mind, Samuel Harvey said. “Jesus says to forgive, so I forgive him. We have forgiven him and I ask you to forgive him too”, the man said. After listening to all the evidence, the jury was told by Justice Goldsbrough that they were tasked with returning a verdict with respect to murder, or manslaughter or murder by reason of insanity. The jury decided on the special verdict stating that Harvey was guilty of murder but was insane at the time he committed the act. Harvey was returned to the Grand Turk prison where he will remain for four weeks until all arrangements have been made for placement in a special institution.
New judge favours mental health court ON the heels of a juvenile Belonger being found guilty by insanity of murder, Turks and Caicos has sworn in a judge in the Supreme Court who has been calling for establishment of a special court for such offenders. Ms Margaret Ramsay-Hale, who leaves the Cayman Islands after 13 years on the bench, was on Monday sworn in the TCI Supreme Court as a Puisne Judge. Her opinions appear consistent with new measures being introduced in the TCI. In her final interview before leaving Cayman, Ms RamsayHale spoke of the need for a ‘Mental Health Court’ in the territories. She also called for establishment of a family court and a programme dealing exclusively with persons driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). She described such institutions as having problemsolving programmes. On Friday, October 28, 15-yearold of Randy Harvey was found guilty by reason of insanity in the killing of 81-year-old Charity Higgs in her Middle Caicos home in 2009. His sentencing was postponed to November 25 allowing prosecutors time to locate and contract a suitable
TCI Puisne Judge Margaret Ramsay-Hale
place for his detention. Expressing a belief that the offender was young enough to be changed into a better person once given the right training and exposure, Samuel Harvey - a son of deceased Charity Higgs - pleaded with the court not to send the young man to jail but have him subject to specialised care. “Forgive him. Randy needs help. He needs treatment, complete education and to learn a trade. He needs a change,” was the appeal by Samuel Harvey, who is also a former minister of government. The expressed sentiments of Puisne Judge Ramsay-Hale
concurred with that of Mr Samuel Harvey when she spoke of the value of programmes keeping young people out of jail, and placing them on special reform programmes. In an interview on Cayman’s CITN television station last week, Ms Ramsay-Hale, who left that territory as a Chief Magistrate, commented on the usefulness of a drug court, the establishment of which she played a pivotal role there. “The drug court, once formally established brought recognition to the impact the problem-solving courts could have on the offending population. It is because of the success of the drug court that the chief justice has asked the attorney general’s office to undertake the work necessary to formally establish a mental health court, to formally establish a domestic violence court, and to formalise the DUI intervention programme.” She spoke of the value of these programmes: “…in restoring these people to the community as active members, contributing members”. The Supreme Court judge’s arrival on TCI comes against the backdrop of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Safety announcing plans for alternative sentencing initiatives such as electronic tagging,
community service orders and compliance orders. The ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Denise Saunders, stated in a media release Tuesday, November 01: “We are all convinced that once we get these projects on sound footing we would see benefits such as fewer persons being given custodial sentences and the community would benefit from offenders doing free community work. … We believe incarceration should be left to dangerous and persistent offenders”. Stressing the need for options to imprisonment, Ms RamsayHale spoke of the need to find better ways for treating young people who are in conflict with the law. She noted judicial systems worldwide: “… moving slowly towards new facilities that are designed to change behaviour by changing the way offenders think. “In many instances, particularly the youth crime, the crime, the drug use, the behaviour are all symptomatic of something that is going on in that child’s life, and if we don’t address these core issues we would never stop the offending behaviour.”