It seems that the Crown was not interested in prosecuting Myvett
BELIZE CITY, Fri. Mar. 8, 2019– Daniel Myvett, 27, charged with the murder of Nigerian security guard Kimaru Olungandudu, walked out of the court of Justice Colin Williams a free man today when Justice Williams granted a permanent stay of execution for his case.
Based on submissions that were made by Myvett’s attorney, Leeroy Banner, Justice Williams had ordered that the Crown provide submissions as to why there was a delay in the retrial of Myvett.
Justice Williams, in his ruling, said that there was non-compliance by the Crown with the order of the court, and that the criminal procedure rules give a timeline for retrials and the timeline for Myvett’s retrial had long since elapsed.
He also added that on several occasions the Crown had indicated that the transcript of Myvett’s trial was not ready and on one specific occasion, the Crown had indicated that the transcript was being prepared.
Justice Williams said that it was clear that one could not rely on the assurances from the Crown that the transcript would be ready, and the Crown had not provided any justification for the delay of the retrial.
As a result, he granted the permanent stay of execution, which is tantamount to an acquittal.
Myvett and two other men, Talbert Mena and Jamal Jackson, were charged with Olungandudu’s murder, which had occurred on February 14, 2010 at Biltmore Plaza Hotel, where Olungandudu was working as a security guard.
On June 23, 2015, Mena and Jackson were acquitted of the charge by Justice John Gonzalez after he upheld a no-case-to-answer submission that was made by their attorneys, Simeon Sampson and Alifa Elrington.
In the case of Myvett, the jury was unable to reach a verdict and a retrial was ordered. The chief witness for the Crown was Kareem Stevens, who was initially charged along with the other accused men for murder.
But Stevens became a witness for the Crown after he agreed to testify in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
Stevens was, however, deemed a hostile witness after he denied that he gave the police a statement.
Olungandudu was stabbed 8 times during a robbery attempt at the hotel. The Crown, at the hearing today, was represented by Senior Crown Counsel Shanice Lovell.