King to face new trial for murder of Amy Annamunthodo

MARLON King will have to face a new trial for the brutal murder of his four-year-old stepdaughter Amy Emily Annamunthodo.

Two weeks ago, King successfully argued his appeal against his conviction, which was quashed by a three-member Court of Appeal panel.

The court found several faults with the trial judge’s handling of his case in 2012.

A retrial was announced on Thursday by Justices of Appeal Alice Yorke-Soo Hon, Mark Mohammed and Malcolm Holdip, who presided over King’s appeal and, in a joint decision, quashed his conviction and the death sentence.

The judges ordered the new trial to be case-managed and heard expeditiously, as far as practicable, and for it to be immediately placed on a judge’s docket for case management. The first case-management conference must be held no later than August 9.

King was sentenced to hang for Annamunthodo’s murder when he was convicted by a jury after six days of directions by then Justice Anthony Carmona.

Annamunthodo was tortured and beaten to death, burned with cigarettes, hung from her hair and beaten until her heart ruptured. King was charged with killing the child – who weighed 33 pounds, was unable to speak properly and was under-developed – on May 15, 2006 at his home at Ste Madeleine Road, Marabella.

King was in a common-law relationship with Annamunthodo’s mother, Anita.

Medical evidence was led that Amy was burnt with cigarettes an hour before she died. She suffered multiple internal and external injuries throughout her body, including a broken rib and bruised organs.

'JUSTICE DEMANDS A RETRIAL OF KING'

At Thursday’s virtual hearing, King’s attorney Peter Carter said the delays in starting retrials; the mental anguish King has suffered because of his incarceration on death row; and the public ridicule, embarrassment, depression; his deteriorating health; and the significant period which had elapsed since the alleged offence were factors strongly against ordering a new trial.

King has been in custody for 15 years and two months.

Carter also mentioned the ordeal faced by King of the first trial process and the appeal. He also maintained that the State’s case was not “overwhelming, or even strong.”

In his submissions, special prosecutor Travers Sinanan said the justice of the case and the public interest required a retrial.

He said all the witnesses were available, including the State’s main witness, Anthony Rocke.

At the trial, Rocke testified to seeing King punching Amy 20-30 times while she hung from a cloth tied to her hair and attached to a door ledge. She had on underwear and was gagged.

In his defence, King alleged it was Rocke who was responsible for the child’s injuries.

Sinanan told the judges Rocke has been in contact with the police and has said he is willing to give evidence again.

Sinanan also said although Dr Chris Pulchan, who examined Annamunthodo at the San Fernando General Hospital, was in Canada, there was now legislation that would allow for testimony by video link.

In their ruling, the judges said while they were also of the view that a retrial would be an ordeal for King, it was not a decisive factor.

“We have considered all of the relevant factors and arguments in favour of and against the ordering of a retrial.

In our view, the balance has been tipped in favour of the ordering of a retrial. We are satisfied that the interests of justice will be served by so ordering,” Mohammed said, as he read out the court’s decision.

In addressing one of the complaints raised by Carter, of the lengthy period that had elapse since the alleged offence, and the nine years it took for the notes of evidence to be finalised for the appeal, Mohammed said those were “far from ideal.”

However, he said, it was the reality in Trinidad and Tobago that “there is very frequently some level of delay in the resolution of criminal matters because of the extremely heavy backlog of cases.”

“…and we are cognisant of the fact that this situation has only been exacerbated due to the impact of the covid19 pandemic on the criminal justice system, with jury trials having been suspended for over a year.”

SEVERAL FACTORS CONSIDERED

He said the court was unable to place any weight on King’s health concerns and prison conditions, but the court noted that on his deteriorating physical and mental health, he has been examined by the prisons medical officer on 22 occasions and was examined by a psychiatrist on seven occasions.

Mohammed also said in deciding whether to order a retrial, the court must weigh several considerations, including: the prevalence of the offence of murder; the fact that the victim was a four-year-old child; the “peculiar heinousness” of the alleged offence, which involved torture, beating and the death of a vulnerable child; and the strength of the prosecution’s case.

In their ruling, the judges unanimously agreed the trial judge “should have exercised “great care and caution” when treating with the evidence of the prosecution’s main witnesses.

They also said the trial judge, as gatekeeper, should have exercised his power to edit or exclude gravely prejudicial evidence advanced in the case which fatally compromised the fairness of King’s trial.

In their analysis, the judges also said while Carmona did identify some of the weaknesses in the prosecution’s case to the jury, in their opinion his review was deficient in some aspects.

“We are not satisfied that the jury, properly directed, would, without doubt, have convicted the appellant upon a consideration of the whole of the admissible evidence,” was the Court of Appeal’s findings.

At the trial, Pulchan said Annamunthodo arrived dead and rigor mortis had already set in.

Pathologist Dr Hughvon des Vignes listed multiple extensive internal and external injuries, including fractured ribs, a busted lip, bruising and bleeding to her head and organs, and cigarette burns to her body, including her genitals.

He said the multiple injuries would have been inflicted on the child within an hour or two before death, and the injuries to her heart would have resulted in her death in a minimum of 15 minutes, but it was likely that she died much sooner. King was also represented by public defender Delicia Helwig-Robertson.