The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

THE Court of Appeal has overturned a man's manslaughter conviction in connection with the shooting death of his friend on Independence Day 2017.

The appellate tribunal of Sir Hartman Longley, Stella Crane-Scott and Milton Evans unanimously set aside Dino Smith's conviction in connection with Levardo Sherman Deveaux's death.

Before this, Smith was serving an 18-year sentence for manslaughter in connection with Deveaux's death.

The Windsor Lane resident was initially charged with murder, but the jury did not return an acceptable guilty verdict on that charge. However, it returned a 9-3 guilty verdict for manslaughter.

The court subsequently withdrew the murder charge and accepted the guilty verdict for manslaughter.

Police initially reported that shortly after noon on the date in question, Deveaux was on Fowler Street, off East Street, sitting in an open yard with a group of people when a black Nissan Teana drove past, heading west.

The car then turned around, headed east, and a gunman got out of the vehicle on the rear passenger's side and shot Deveaux before getting back into the vehicle and speeding off in an unknown direction.

Deveaux was taken to hospital in a private vehicle, where he died of his injuries shortly after his arrival.

However, by the time the trial took place, the Crown's evidence had changed drastically.

According to the Court of Appeal ruling, the Crown's case was sometime after noon on July 10, 2017, Deveaux and Smith left the Fowler Street area in a vehicle driven by the deceased.

While in the vehicle, Smith shot Deveaux in the back seat, the Crown claimed. Deveaux subsequently begged Smith to take him to the hospital, a request he honoured.

Smith, according to the Crown, got in the driver's seat and proceeded to take a detour to pick up a female friend, with whom he concocted a story about the shooting.

Smith then went to the hospital and upon arrival, Deveaux got out of the vehicle. Smith subsequently left.

While Deveaux was being prepped for surgery, his sister Shantique Miller came to see him. She went to the trauma room where she saw her brother connected to four drips. She also noticed that he was sweating profusely and was wearing an oxygen mask.

Ms Miller asked her brother what had happened to him, but because he was groaning in pain, she had to lean over him to hear what he was saying.

He subsequently told her that "Dino from the Big Yard" shot him. When Ms Miller asked him to repeat what he said, Deveaux replied: "Dino, Dino."

Before the doctor could rush him into surgery, Deveaux asked his sister to pray with him because he didn't think he would make it out of surgery alive.

He died of his injuries while in surgery.

Meanwhile, Smith's case was that he and Deveaux were friends, and that on the date in question, Deveaux asked him to accompany him to Dorsette Alley to help him sell a gun to a person by the name of "Georgie".

Upon arriving at Dorsette Alley, Georgie got in the back passenger seat behind Deveaux who was in the driver's seat. Deveaux subsequently gave the firearm to Georgie to examine it.

While Georgie was doing so, however, a single shot went off by accident, which ripped through the driver's seat and struck Deveaux.

Georgie subsequently left with the firearm. Smith maintained he then drove Deveaux back to Fowler Street to get assistance from Keora Gray before taking Deveaux to the hospital where he later died.

Attorney David Cash represented Smith during both the trial and the appeal.