Milton Shane Watson v R
| Jurisdiction | Bermuda |
| Judgment Date | 19 July 1991 |
| Docket Number | Criminal Appeal No. 9 of 1991 |
| Date | 19 July 1991 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Bermuda) |
In the Court of Appeal for Bermuda
Roberts, P.
Huggins, J.A.
Georges, J.P.
Criminal Appeal No. 9 of 1991
and
Tim Marshall for the Appellant
H. McMillan (Attorney General's Chambers) for the Respondent
R v Dearing 1978 Criminal Appeal No. 20
Bermuda Constitution Order 1968 s. 6(3)
Appellant sought order to obtain copies of tape recordings in Supreme Court for purpose of appeal — Premeditated murder — Whether tape recordings are part of the ‘record of the proceedings’
Roberts, P.
On 17th July, 1991. the appellant sought an order that:-
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(d) The tape recordings made by the Supreme Court at the trial of the appellant be made available to the appellant for the purpose of his appeal filed on 3rd April, 1991.
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(b) The appellant be permitted to supplement his appeal by transcripts of relevant portions of the tape recordings made at the trial.
During the hearing, we gave leave to the appellant to amend paragraph (a) above to read ‘A copy of the’ instead of ‘The’.
At the conclusion of the hearing, we made the order sought under paragraph (a). We made no order under paragraph (b), leaving it to the appellant to satisfy this Court at the hearing of the appeal, that transcripts are relevant to his grounds of appeal.
Shane's trial for premeditated murder took place between 7th and 22nd March, at the conclusion of which he was convicted and sentenced to death. His grounds of appeal were lodged on 3rd April, 1991. These contained a number of grounds, alleging that the judge had behaved improperly. Counsel contended that it was unlikely that the judge's notes of evidence, which have not yet been supplied to counsel for the appellant, would contain comments by the judge which formed the basis of the impropriety set out in the grounds.
On 4th April, l991, counsel for the appellant wrote to the Registrar of the Supreme Court, seeking a transcript of the tapes made at Watson's trial.
The Registrar replied on 5th April, 1991, to the effect that the trial judge had not authorized their transmission. The Registrar added, ‘I am told the judge's notes is the record unless the judge orders otherwise.’
On 17th April, 1991, the appellant's counsel replied that, under the Constitution, the appellant was ‘entitled to the transmission of the tapes or the tapes themselves’.
The Registrar replied, on 26th April, saying that the ‘Court of...
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