NASSAU-The Court of Appeal has ordered a retrial for a Haitian man accused of rape.
Josue Celestin will face a second Supreme Court trial on claims that he raped the woman at his home.
The Court said it ordered a retrial in “the interests of justice.” The Court overturned Celestin’s conviction because the trial judge made a mistake during his summation.
At trial, Celestin called his accuser’s character into question by alleging she was a prostitute. According to him, she agreed to have sex for $50 but accused him of rape because he did not pay her.
For her part, the accuser said that Celestin threatened her with a screwdriver and made her perform various sex acts on November 9, 2015. Police found a screwdriver on Celestin’s dresser.
The Court of Appeal said Celestin did not have a fair trial because the judge failed to tell the jury about his good character.
Sir Michael Barnett said the trial judge has to ask if a good character direction is necessary whenever credibility is an issue.
Justice of Appeal Stella Crane-Scott agreed that the omission of the good character direction made the trial unfair.
However, Justice of Appeal Roy Jones disagreed. He said, “In my opinion, a good character direction to the jury would not have made a difference to the outcome of the case.”
Kendra Kelly appeared for the prosecution and Fedner Dorsetal represented Celestin.
