Nassau-A man convicted of manslaughter won a new trial on appeal because jurors didn’t hear from a key witness.
In a ruling Tuesday, Justice of Appeal Milton Evans and two other judges threw out Xavient Taylor’s conviction for killing James Gardiner in a fight.
Prosecutors tried Taylor for murder. However, jurors convicted him of manslaughter i and he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The men clashed outside Tiffany Knowles’ home in Montell Heights on November 2, 2009.
Gardiner was dating Knowles, who has a daughter with Taylor.
At trial, Taylor said he stabbed Gardiner in self-defence.
On the other hand, prosecutors said that it was murder.
However, Vanessa Cooper, who told police that she saw Taylor leave the home with a knife didn’t testify at Taylor’s trial.
Prosecutors said they could not find her. So, they asked the court to admit her statement to police into evidence.
Initially, the trial judge ruled against prosecutors because she found a policeman did not take all the necessary measures to locate Cooper.
Yet, the judge reversed her decision after hearing further evidence from the same policeman. He had heard the judge gave her initial ruling.
Cooper showed up before the end of the trial, but prosecutors still didn’t call her to testify.
So, the jury only had her unchallenged witness statement to consider.
The Court of Appeal said that Cooper’s evidence was “crucial” to the jury deciding if Taylor was guilty.
The appellate court judges said Cooper should have been cross-examined once located, to ensure fairness.
Had this happened, the appellate court said the jury might have reached another verdict.
