‘Forget his name’

Tanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter

If Justice Leighton Pusey had his way, the cold-blooded and unrepentant Cocoa Piece killer who snuffed out the lives of five family members would be a distant memory and only be recalled by the judiciary for legal precedent.

The judge, after sentencing the 23-year-old murderer, Rushane Barnett, to five concurrent life sentences with a stipulation that he serve 61 years and eight months before parole, called on Jamaicans to forget the killer and to keep the memory of his victims alive.

Kemisha Wright and her children - Kimanda Smith, 15; Shara-Lee Smith, 12; Rafaella Smith, five; and 23-month-old Keshawn Henry - were found at their home on June 21 with their throats slashed and dozens of stab wounds.

Barnett, who pleaded guilty in July, murdered his elder cousin and her kids after she welcomed him into her home and sought jobs for him when he fell on hard times.

“It is my eternal hope that we will forget his name in the same way that others who have committed similar offences, they become a footnote, and they are only remembered when we look for legal precedent,” Justice Pusey said.

“What we need to remember in this matter are the persons who lost their lives, and I have been deliberate in mentioning their names. And I have also been deliberate in not mentioning his name.”

The judge praised Wright's magnanimity in opening her home to her down-in-luck cousin as she studied to become a nurse while operating a shop.

“I think it is also important to remember in particular for Ms Wright that she was somebody who, with all the difficulties that she had, was still able to be generous enough to try to help somebody who was in need.

“And I think that is important for us to celebrate that generosity and don't think of it as something which opened her up to the situation ... . It was not her fault,” the judge said.

As the judge addressed the court, Barnett, dressed in an orange and yellow tropical shirt and a green short pants, held his head down for most of the time, twiddling his thumbs and playing with his fingers. For the most part, he looked unbothered, except when he was asked by the judge to stand, at which time he appeared uncomfortable.

Justice Pusey, who struggled to find adjectives to describe the brutal crime, said that the death penalty could have been considered as the offence could be viewed as “the worst of the worst”.

He was also of the view that Barnett was not deserving of a sentencing discount.

The judge explained that persons who plead guilty early would normally be entitled to a discount under common law. However, he said the amendments to the Criminal Justice Administrative Act have standardised and codified the circumstances in which the discount would apply based on the time of the plea.

But he said this case would be excluded as five persons were killed.

“There is, however, a subtle legal argument that because the discount existed previously at common law, even though the statute does not provide for such a discount, the court could still give a discount.

“But I do not agree with such a discount,” Justice Pusey said. “... Even if I am wrong in law, and there still is a common-law discount available for this, I wouldn't give any discount in the circumstances of this case.”

The judge said the counterfactors to consideration of a discount included the compelling evidence of clothes and the murder weapon that forensically linked him to the murder and the fact that the death penalty was no longer on the table.

Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn had initially served notice that her office would be seeking the death penalty but withdrew the request after Barnett pleaded guilty.

The judge, in determining Barnett's custodial term before eligibility for parole, took note of the aggravating factors, which included the number of victims, breach of the family's trust, the multiple wounds, lack of remorse, the premeditation that “he was going to kill some people”.

The judge's starting point was 55 years, which moved up to 65 with the aggravating factors. However, Barnett was credited for his early guilty plea, his young age, lack of previous conviction, and the four months he spent in custody.

In the meantime, the DPP, who had recommended that Barnett serve 60 years and nine months before parole, said she was pleased with the judgment.

“I believe the judge was spot on in how he dealt with it. He properly considered the aggravating factors, the mitigating factors. I thought that was the correct starting point according to law,” Llewellyn said.

Furthermore, she said: “He answered the call of history when he recognised, as we did, that there was no legal precedent for a case of this nature and especially at a time in Jamaica where you have several multiple murders being committed at the same time, in the same space.”

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com