LINCOLN Smith, a man convicted twice already of the almost two-hour long rape of a Dominican woman back in 2010, will get a third shot to prove his innocence.
The decision came down on Wednesday (June 14) in the Court of Appeal after arguments by Smith’s counsel, Oliver Smith about some missing documents related witness testimony and questions about the judge’s summation of the second trial.
Smith’s arguments related to some of the witness testimony corroborated by the Crown.
Upon questioning from the three appellate justices about the whereabouts of court transcripts, the court was told that there was none at the moment.
However, the Crown counsel told the court that efforts would be made to get a copy from the trial judge, whom it was assumed kept a written transcript of the proceedings as it was conducted.
The transcripts in question were that of the victim and of a South Caicos pastor who had found the young lady in the bushes where she was attacked and raped, allegedly by Lincoln Smith and another man.
There were also some questions raised about the judge’s summation of the case to the jury and information provided to them that should not have been part of their deliberations in reaching a verdict.
After a brief deliberation in chambers, the justices ordered a retrial for Smith; his third so far.
Smith was convicted in the first trial and sentenced to nine years of imprisonment. He was convicted on the strength of his DNA being found on the victim.
However, his alleged accomplice, Lanard Forbes’ DNA was not found, and as such he walked free.
Smith appealed the conviction, won and a retrial was ordered.
He was convicted again in the retrial and sentenced to 10 years.
At the time of the arrest of both men, the prosecution had alleged that the men brutally raped the Dominican woman without the use of condoms for over one and half hours.
It was said that they beat her in the face then dragged her into some bushes where they took turns sexually assaulting her.
A South Caicos local pastor later found her lying in the bushes naked from the waist down and crying for help.
In court this week, it was revealed that during his trials, Smith had claimed, as his defence, that he had sexual intercourse with the woman on three other occasions, and that while he saw her on the day that she was raped, he did not rape her.
The Court of Appeal also heard that Smith had claimed that the woman is a prostitute.
The defendant’s lawyer also argued that the identification of his client was faulty, and called into question the testimony provided by the pastor during the trial.
