Man appeals conviction for molesting 10-y-o

A 66-year-old man who was sent to prison for 14 years in 2017 for sexually molesting a 10-year-old girl is seeking to have his conviction overturned in the Court of Appeal, primarily on grounds that he has had to be waiting for almost five years to have his appeal case heard.

The appellant, Kenneth Morris, is contending that his constitutional right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time was violated on account of the delay in the provision of the transcripts.

His appeal was scheduled to have been heard on Wednesday, but the hearing had to be pushed back as his lawyer, Kemoy EcKron, is yet to be furnished with a copy of the transcript, but was promised that it will be delivered by Monday.

The hearing was rescheduled for June 20.

The St Catherine resident was convicted in the St Catherine Circuit Court in 2017 by Justice Marcia Dunbar Green and later sentenced to two years and four months for sexual touching of a child and 14 years for grievous sexual assault with the possibility of being paroled after serving 10 years.

The Crown had led evidence that in January 2013, the appellant molested the child at the back of his house while her friend was at the front of the premises.

The child later reported the matter and Morris was arrested and charged.

However, he denied the allegations and has maintained that malice was the reason for the allegations, claiming he and the child’s mother had a disagreement after they entered into a partner scheme and she failed to pay him $3,000 that was owed to him.

He also claimed that the child’s family had wanted his home.

Morris was, however, found guilty during a jury trial.

But following his conviction, he appealed on a number of grounds, including that the presiding judge had failed to properly instruct the jurors regarding certain aspects of the greater offence, that she had erred, and also that she had failed to properly instruct the jury on the lesser offence.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com