Appeal Court sets aside death sentence of man found guilty of killing ACP Gilbert Kameka

The man who was sentenced to hang for the murder of Assistant Commissioner of Police Gilbert Kameka has won his appeal against his death sentence.

Massinissa Adams, 31, who was convicted in November 2009 along with two other men for the November 2007 murder, had appealed only against the death sentence.

Attorney-at-law Carolyn Reid Cameron argued that Adams should not face the death penalty.

She cited authorities to show that the Jamaican position was that life imprisonment should be imposed unless having considered all the available material and issues there is no prospect of social readaptation, and the circumstances of the case qualify it as the "rarest of the rare", the "worst of the worst" or "extreme and exceptional."

Reid Cameron argued that there was no evidence that Adams was prone to violence and the judge did not address her mind to the prospect of reform.

The Court of Appeal said that the judge's focus was essentially centred on the fact that the murder was premeditated.

"However, premeditation, in itself, would not have been a critical factor in determining whether the death penalty was justifiable in this case," the Appeal Court held. Kameka was killed by one of two shots and the Appeal Court pointed out that it was not a sadistic killing nor was the deceased tortured.

The court found that although the murder entailed a planned, cold-blooded killing, it could not be regarded as falling within the most extreme or exceptional cases.

Adams' death sentence was set aside and he was sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to serve 35 years before he can be eligible for parole.

Source: Jamaica Gleaner, December 1, 2013