NASSAU- A man who was wrongfully convicted of murder was freed on appeal.
Devon King walked out of prison a free man after the Court of Appeal ruled that the evidence at his trial did not support his conviction.
King, was was represented by Christina Galanos, was in 2017 sentenced to 35 years in prison for the 2016 murder of Canill Darville, his neighbour.
The shooting happened in front of the fourplex apartment where both men lived in Churchill Division.
According to the prosecution, a lone gunman with a cloth covering his face shot Darville multiple times.
Although the cloth hid the gunman’s face, Darville identified King as his shooter.
After hearing the gunfire, Darville’s brother, Trugillo, went outside and asked him what happened.
Darville replied, “Devon just shoot me.”
Trugillo believed his brother was referring to their neighbour.
Trugillo saw the assailant as he fled but he could not identify him.
Despite this, Trugillo picked out King from a 12-person line up.
Another witness, Samuel Moss, saw the man running away but also did not see the man’s face.
When Corporal Teneil Sherman arrived on the scene and identified herself as a police officer, King reportedly told her, “Man, Devon from upstairs shot me, officer.”
Police arrested King several days later. When cautioned, he allegedly said, “Yeah, officer, that boy shoot me last week Wednesday. I almost dead.”
However, Kind denied the accusation in his police interview.
He did not testify at his trial.
In overturning the conviction, Justice of Appeal Jon Issacs said the judge did not properly direct the jury on the identification and dying declaration.
Therefore, Justice Issacs said the trial judge should have withdrawn the case from the jury.
