By Barbara Gayle, Staff ReporterTHE COURT of Appeal yesterday commended prosecutor Anthony Armstrong for being a minister of justice when he conceded that 36-year-old garage operator Rudolph Malcolm, of Albion, St. James should not have been convicted of rape and illegal possession of firearm based on the evidence given in court by the complainant.
Malcolm's convictions and seven-year prison sentence for rape and illegal possession of firearm were set aside by the court and a verdict of acquittal entered. He was convicted on March 28 last year in the St. James Circuit Court.
AGREEMENT
A woman who admitted in court that she was a prostitute had testified that on August 30, 2002 she and Malcolm entered into an agreement, whereby she would be paid $4,500 for services rendered. She said she entered Malcolm's van and after they came out of the van and were walking to an abandoned three-storey house, Malcolm pulled a gun at her. She said they had sexual intercourse and Malcolm refused to pay her.
Under cross-examination by attorney-at-law Winston Douglas who represented Malcolm at the trial, the complainant admitted that if Malcolm had paid her she would not be in court making accusations that he pulled a gun at her and raped her.
THREATS
Malcolm had said in his defence that the complainant had threatened to send him to prison because he did not pay her. He said the complainant had agreed to spend the night with him for $4,500 but after they were at his house for a short while, she decided to leave and so he refused to pay her.
Attorney-at-law Jack Hines argued yesterday in the Court of Appeal that Mr. Justice Patrick Brooks erred when he convicted Malcolm based on the admission made in court by the woman. He said the warrant on which Malcolm was arrested did not refer to any gun offence. He said it was only when the complainant was testifying at the preliminary inquiry that she mentioned that she was held up with a gun.
