Although proceedings in court are serious business, any court guest can attest there is a fair share of drama.
While the prosecution, witnesses and defendants often provide the drama, this time, it is a judge who has proved dramatic.
Judge Carlisle Greaves in Bermuda is accused of making lewd comments during a trial.
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The British Court of Appeals noted that during a murder trial, Justice Greaves said he was getting ‘horny’ because of the amount of sex mentioned in the case.
With defence lawyers always seeking an opening, defense for the accused, who was later convicted of murder, called for a retrial.
It emerged that even though the junior judge in the British overseas state of Bermuda behaved inappropriately, it wasn’t enough grounds to overturn the verdict.
Appeal judge, Maurice Kay, said: ‘In particular, his comment “all this sex is beginning to get me horny” was inappropriate and inimical to the dignity of court proceedings.
Khyri Smith-Williams was convicted of slaying Colford Ferguson and sentenced to serve at least 35 years in prison last October after he was found guilty of the murder by a majority verdict.
Ferguson, a 29-year-old father of one, was shot dead in February 2011, as he worked on a house in Somerset, Bermuda. A witness, Troy Harris, said Smith-Williams confessed to him of driving the getaway motorbike after the murder adding that it was Rasheed Muhammad who pulled the trigger.
Smith-Williams launched an appeal against his conviction, which was heard in June. He stated that the witness, Harris, had testified that he had shared women with the defendant and used vulgar language ‘f****t’ and ‘f***ing p***y’ but Justice Greaves had failed to rein him in.
The intense use of the sexual terms appears to have led the junior judge to say he was getting horny. He’s not facing sanctions as he is no longer a puisne judge following his retirement.
The higher court, however, found that Greaves’s response to the unsavoury language was not prejudicial.
Sir Maurice Kay wrote: “Anybody familiar with serious criminal trials, in this jurisdiction in recent years, knows the judge has a very personal style, whereby he engages with witnesses, defendants, juries and advocates in an informal way, often using casual language and rich metaphors.”
