The Court of Appeal has quashed John Paul Cawley’s murder conviction and ordered a retrial after finding that the jury had not been clearly directed on the prosecution’s burden of proof. It dismissed the separate murder appeal by Wenio Rodrigues Da Silva.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Edwards on 18 May 2015, concerned convictions following a joint trial in the Central Criminal Court in Tralee. The jury had found both men guilty of murdering Bruno Lemes De Souza between 16 and 17 February 2012 at Shronowen Bog, Tullamore, Listowel, County Kerry. Both had received mandatory life sentences.
Cawley’s appeal argued that the trial judge failed to explain that the prosecution had to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the statutory presumption of intent had not been rebutted. The provision presumes that a person intended the natural and probable consequences of their conduct, but allows that presumption to be rebutted.
The appeal court found there was evidence capable of rebutting the presumption, including denials of intent in Cawley’s police interviews and expert evidence that his low intelligence and personality disorder may have limited his capacity to form an independent intention. Whether that evidence was credible was for the jury. Although the judge had given the general direction that the prosecution always bears the burden of proof, the appeal court said that was not enough to make clear the prosecution had to prove that the presumption remained unrebutted.
The court said it could not be sure a proper direction would have made no difference. The jury could have considered an ordinary manslaughter verdict if it had reasonable doubt about the specific intent required for murder. It ruled that the omission was a substantive deficiency that made the trial unsatisfactory and the murder conviction unsafe.
Cawley’s murder conviction was quashed, his life sentence set aside and a retrial ordered. The court said the retrial must determine whether the correct verdict is murder, manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility, or manslaughter simpliciter. Cawley had pleaded guilty to manslaughter at the original trial, but that plea had not been accepted by the prosecution.
Da Silva challenged six aspects of the trial, including the handling of his co-accused’s statements, text messages, closing submissions and evidence from a Garda witness. The Court of Appeal rejected all six grounds. It held that the trial judge’s directions sufficiently told jurors to consider each case separately and not use Cawley’s police interviews as evidence against Da Silva. It also found that the challenged text messages were admissible for the purpose for which the prosecution relied on them, and that the trial judge had appropriately dealt with objections to evidence about items identified during a house search.
Da Silva’s appeal was dismissed; his murder conviction and life sentence were not disturbed by this judgment.