TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: PRIVY COUNCIL ALLOWS APPEALS IN DEATH PENALTY CASE

the Privy Council in London allowed an appeal in a death penalty case referred to it from Trinidad and Tobago. Lester Pitman’s appeal to the Privy Council was allowed on the basis of new medical evidence which may cast doubt on the safety of his conviction for murder and the legality of the sentence of death. The case has been remitted to the Court of Appeal of Trinidad and Tobago after the Privy Council admitted the fresh evidence about Pitman’s mental state. According to the new medical evidence, Pitman has an IQ of 52, showing severe mental impairment. Psychiatric tests show that he is also extremely compliant and suggestible, casting doubt on the value of his confession, made without the presence of a lawyer or family member, whether he is fit to plead, whether he has a defence of diminished responsibility, and the legality of passing a death sentence on him. In June 2005, Trinidad read Pitman a warrant of execution while his appeal to the Privy Council was pending. Only an emergency order from the High Court of Trinidad saved his life.