‘The defendant lied!’
A Kingston woman who stabbed and killed her estranged partner — who was a convicted murderer on the run — was on Monday found guilty of causing his death by Supreme Court Judge Justice Leighton Pusey who quashed her argument of self-defence.
Justice Pusey, in his summation and verdict, said he, based on the evidence before the court, concluded that the woman — Norma Lyn Dawes — inflicted all three wounds to the victim Oshane Coley, one of which was fatal. Furthermore, he said she was “not acting in lawful self-defence” and had lied on several occasions in giving evidence.
According to details unveiled during the trial, Dawes and Coley were involved in an on-and-off relationship marked by verbal and physical abuse. Coley was one of three men who, in 2017, had absconded bail during trial on murder charges but were sentenced in their absence to life imprisonment.
Things reportedly came to a head in the rocky relationship on the night of March 8, 2019 when, during an altercation, Dawes allegedly barricaded herself in her room only to have her ex-boyfriend climb through a window and attack her.
Dawes said that during the struggle that ensued she picked up an object off the ground “which happened to be a knife” and stabbed Coley, who ran from the room, climbed over a wall, and was later found dead on the street some distance away.
Defence attorney Paul Gentles, in his closing address earlier this month, had argued that the issues of self-defence and provocation “loomed large” in the case. Gentles said his client had repeatedly said she “never meant to kill him and was trying to protect herself”.
“Operating in her mind was the fear and threat of Oshane Coley. It was a home invasion by night, an attack on her person. She was cornered in her room, she was attacked in her room, and we submit that in these circumstances there was no duty on her part to retreat,” Gentles said in arguing self-defence.
On Monday, Justice Pusey, in his summation, said he accepted as expert evidence the testimony of the doctor who conducted the post-mortem and the evidence of a scene of crime investigator in relation to the blood spatter found at the scene. The expert had pointed to instances at the scene where there was an active blood pattern and said it indicated where the wounds were inflicted and that the injured person was moving away from the venue. Scene of crime photos showed blood trails leaving the property and ending where he collapsed and died.
In dealing with what he said was “the issue of untruthfulness or lies by the defendant”, Justice Pusey said, “Whereas a defendant’s lies by itself do not indicate guilt, the court has to remind itself that even a defendant with a good defence may feel that they have to lie to bolster their case, or they may exaggerate particular issues, but the court is free to make inferences from the lies told by the defendant”.
“In this case I am of the view that the defendant lied about the circumstances under which she stabbed the deceased,” the judge declared, eliciting a look of shock from Dawes who had listened intently in the dock, jotting down notes, her brows furrowed. She was clad in a white shirt and blue jeans, her hair neatly braided atop her head.
According to Justice Pusey, the defendant first lied about where the incident occurred and where the deceased gained access.
“She indicated that the incident occurred in the bedroom, and she had said in her question and answer that ‘he had a hammer and he was trying to get in at me, beating down the door’. What is interesting about this is that she indicated that it happened in the bedroom, and from the blood evidence it is clear it did not happen in the bedroom,” Justice Pusey said.
“The police indicated that they came in and they were the ones who broke open the door to the bedroom. It’s also interesting that in her evidence, after the police indicated that they broke off the door, she then says that it was through the window that he made his entrance into her room. So, is it through the window or through the door? Is it that he was stabbed in the bedroom or outside the bedroom, as was clear from the blood spatter evidence?” Justice Pusey said.
“Is it that it was one wound as she remembers, or was it in fact three wounds as was clearly indicated on the body of the deceased? From the facts I infer that the accused, having inflicted all three wounds, was not acting in self-defence. Based on the spatter evidence, all three wounds were not inflicted while the deceased was standing in the same area; he was moving away from the scene of the first wound and two followed,” he said further.
On the matter of whether Dawes was provoked, the judge said while there was some evidence of abuse by Coley, it would not negate the deliberate act by Dawes.
“Even if there was abuse, there is not enough evidence for the court to conclude that the accused would have acted based on provocation. For the court to consider provocation there would have to be some evidence of some act, word or deed which would have proved the accused. There would have to be some evidence that she became angry and lost control,” he said.
As to where the knife used in the stabbing was sourced, Justice Pusey pointed out that Dawes, when asked where she got the knife, first said she got it from the television stand and said she didn’t realise where in the melee Coley got stabbed. She later said she got the knife off the ground. He said while this could have been more a matter of recollection, Dawes made other statements which were “clear untruths”.
“I have to conclude that she inflicted all three wounds, she was not acting in lawful self-defence. I have come to the conclusion therefore that Miss Dawes is guilty of the count of murder,” Justice Pusey said.
At the pronouncement Dawes, who shot to her feet looking aghast while clutching her notes to her chest, attempted to speak but was urged by the judge to maintain her silence and reserve any detail she wished to outline for an appeal after sentencing.
Dawes, however persisted, shaking her head from side to side, her hands now clutching the top of the dock, saying “No, Your honour. Your Honour, please.” For several trying moments, despite being sternly ordered to sit by the judge and amidst coaxing from defence and prosecution alike, Dawes stubbornly stood, insisting that she wanted to be given a chance to speak.
“Your Honour, please don’t do this,” she said.
“Stop! Anything you say at this time can’t help you in terms of the decisions I have already made. Sit down. Don’t say anything more; it will make the case worse. Sit down,” Justice Pusey said sternly.
“Your Honour, Your Honour, I would like another lawyer, please,” Dawes said, refusing to sit.
“Miss Dawes, at the appeal stage you don’t have to [retain the same attorney],” Justice Pusey explained.
“I want to speak to somebody right now, another lawyer,” Dawes, who has already been assigned three sets of attorneys during the matter, declared.
Told to prepare her additional arguments for the appeal stage she said, “I don’t deserve this, Your Honour,” prompting an even firmer, “Sit down!” from Justice Pusey.
Finally sitting with a tortured look on her face Dawes continued, “Your Honour, Your Honour, I’d like another lawyer. I didn’t get the chance to talk about the blood spatter, this is not fair to me. This is the first time I am hearing of blood spatter and all these things. This is not fair to me.”
At the end of his tether, Justice Pusey ordered that Dawes be removed from the courtroom.
In being taken from the dock by police who had to lead her from where she was seated, Dawes maintained her protest declaring, “Your Honour this is not fair to me. I did not get a chance to address all the blood spatter evidence.”
In a parting shot while being led through the door Dawes said the blood evidence was ‘planted’.
In the meantime, a fingerprint order was made for Dawes as well as a social enquiry and antecedent report. She is to be sentenced in February 2023.
The Crown was represented by Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Andrea Martin-Swaby and Cygale Pennant. Gentles was assisted by attorney Kemar Setal.