Subscribe Login
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • International News
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • #
    • Business
      • Business Bites
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Videos
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obits
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Elections
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • International News
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • #
    • Business
      • Business Bites
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Videos
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obits
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Elections
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
  • Home
  • News
    • International News
  • Latest
  • Business
    • Business Bites
  • Cartoon
  • Games
  • Food Awards
  • Health
  • Entertainment
    • Bookends
  • Regional
  • Sports
    • Sports
    • World Cup
    • World Champs
    • Olympics
  • Videos
  • Career & Education
  • Classifieds
  • All Woman
  • Environment
  • Webinars
  • More
    • Football
    • Elections
    • Letters
    • Advertorial
    • Columns
    • Editorial
    • Supplements
  • Epaper
  • Design Week
Court red herring
Laws that are passed — or not passed — impact how people live and what rights they have.
News
February 21, 2023

Court red herring

NORMA Lyn Dawes, the Kingston woman who was in December last year found guilty of murdering her estranged partner — himself a convicted killer on the run — disgruntled with her guilty verdict fired her team of attorneys, thus leading to her sentencing hearing which was scheduled for Monday being set back.

Supreme Court judge, Justice Leighton Pusey, in quashing her argument of self-defence and declaring her guilty, had said that based on the evidence before the court he concluded that the woman had inflicted all three wounds to the victim Oshane Coley, one of which was fatal. Furthermore, he said she was “not acting in lawful self-defence” and had lied on several occasions in giving evidence. Dawes, at the time of conviction, had insisted that she was not treated fairly and declared that she wanted new attorneys.

When she reappeared before Justice Pusey at the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston on Monday, attorney Paul Gentles — who along with Kemar Setal had represented Dawes — informed the court that Dawes had retained counsel to address the issue of sentencing.

“I have no instructions to that effect formally from Miss Dawes for any other attorney, who I would have expected would have informed me of such. I have no instructions from her to address the matter of sentencing either,” Gentles said cursorily.

Dawes, asked by the judge whether she had retained a new lawyer or if she spoke with anyone about representing her, answered in the negative to both queries, pointing out that she had indicated at her last appearance before the court that she did not wish for Gentles or Setal to continue representing her.

“Understand now, madam, that you are at the stage of sentencing. This is the time when the court, having looked at the evidence, makes a decision as to what sentence you would get. This is still a part of the legal process and it would be helpful for you to have legal advice to indicate what are the possible sentences that you may get and also what thing you might want to say to the court at this stage,” Justice Pusey schooled.

Asked whether she wanted to retain an attorney to address the court on sentencing ahead of his judgement Dawes said, “Your Honour, I can say what I need to say. As I said before, there was nothing to charge me with murder.”

Justice Pusey, however, informed her that the court had already settled on her conviction but pointed out that the option of an appeal of the sentence, once handed down, remained open.

“Having decided that you are guilty the court is going to decide what is the appropriate sentence…that is the process that we are involved in and for that process, legal advice is as necessary as it is during the first process in relation to the trial,” Justice Pusey explained.

He said while he could proceed without her having legal representation, it was in her best interest to have an attorney to advise her.

Dawes, however, stated that having passed through several lawyers, they had all failed to “relate what [she] has been through [and] what [she is] going through”.

“I think I am the best person to express that to the court. As you said, I can peruse the documents and put forward my stance,” Dawes appealed, stating that she was still at a loss as to why she had “been found guilty for murder”.

“It is your right to think that you ought not to have been found guilty,” Justice Pusey said in telling Dawes that even if she wished to speak for herself she would still be better off getting legal advice, given that there is a whole range of penalties for murder, and since she had lost confidence in her legal team.

Dawes, however, persisted, stating that she had prepared a letter to the chief justice seeking his intervention in her case. According to Dawes, she had garnered this opinion that the head of the judiciary could intervene, based on an interview he supposedly did where he stated that he looked over all court files.

“No madam; when matters are tried in the courts the trial judge is the person who makes the decision…it’s not a situation where the chief justice is a supervisor and can say: ‘Change your mind in relation to this.’ It is the trial judge who makes the determination,” he stated, adding that the appeal court reviews disputed judgements.

“This indicates why you need legal advice because you have a misunderstanding in law as to how things happen. In other words, you are of the view that the chief justice has power to say to another judge that, ‘You made this decision wrong; you should do it another way,’ [but] there is no such power. We make our decisions independent of each other so you may be assisted greatly by having some legal guidance — if you are willing to accept,” Justice Pusey said further.

After Dawes grudgingly accepted the offer of the court to locate an attorney to assist her, Justice Pusey adjourned the matter to this Friday, February 24.

According to details unveiled during the trial, Dawes and Coley were involved in an on-and-off relationship characterised by verbal and physical abuse. Coley was one of three men who, in 2017, had absconded bail during trial on murder charges but were sentenced in their absence to life imprisonment.

Things reportedly came to a head in the rocky relationship on the night of March 8, 2019 when, during an altercation, Dawes allegedly barricaded herself in her room, only to have her ex-boyfriend climb through a window and attack her.

Dawes said that during the struggle that ensued she picked up an object off the ground, “which happened to be a knife”, and stabbed Coley, who ran from the room, climbed over a wall, and was later found dead on the street some distance away.

Gentles had argued that the issues of self-defence and provocation “loomed large” in the case. Gentles said his client had repeatedly said she “never meant to kill him and was trying to protect herself”.

{"website":"website"}{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
img img
0 Comments · Make a comment

ALSO ON JAMAICA OBSERVER

Jamaica’s unemployment inches up to 3.7 per cent as Melissa fallout continues
Latest News, News
Jamaica’s unemployment inches up to 3.7 per cent as Melissa fallout continues
June 30, 2026
Jamaica’s unemployment rate stood at 3.7 per cent in April, up from 3.3 per cent in April 2025, according to the latest Labour Force Survey (LFS) rele...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Survivor details 48 hours under rubble in Venezuela
Latest News, Regional
Survivor details 48 hours under rubble in Venezuela
June 30, 2026
CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Andrea Canonico focused on her breathing to stay calm as she lay trapped under a building that had crumbled during the two ...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
World’s oceans break June heat record — EU monitor
Environment, International News, Latest News
World’s oceans break June heat record — EU monitor
June 30, 2026
PARIS, France (AFP) — The world's oceans just experienced their hottest June on record and could set fresh highs in the months ahead as El Niño and cl...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Thousands march to demand illegal migrants leave South Africa
International News, Latest News
Thousands march to demand illegal migrants leave South Africa
June 30, 2026
DURBAN, South Africa (AFP) -- Thousands of people marched across South Africa on Tuesday to demand the departure of undocumented foreign nationals aft...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Daley wants greater attention paid to men’s mental health
Latest News, News
Daley wants greater attention paid to men’s mental health
June 30, 2026
Opposition Spokesperson on gender, the elderly, and persons with disability, Denise Daley, wants greater attention to be paid to men’s mental health. ...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Daley calls for national femicide registry
Latest News, News
Daley calls for national femicide registry
June 30, 2026
Opposition Spokesperson on Gender, the elderly, and persons with disability, Denise Daley is calling for the establishment of a national femicide regi...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Jamaica economy contracts 4.1% in first quarter
Business, Latest News
Jamaica economy contracts 4.1% in first quarter
June 30, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s economy contracted by 4.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, a less severe decline than earlier preliminary estimate...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Struggling small businesses urged to use Gov’t’s insolvency regime
Latest News, News
Struggling small businesses urged to use Gov’t’s insolvency regime
June 30, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica —  Small business owners struggling to meet their financial obligations are being urged to take advantage of the options available u...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
❮ ❯

Polls

HOUSE RULES

  1. We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website or in the newspaper; email addresses will not be published.
  2. Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.
  3. We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic under discussion.
  4. Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.
  5. Please don't use the comments to advertise. However, our advertising department can be more than accommodating if emailed: advertising@jamaicaobserver.com.
  6. If readers wish to report offensive comments, suggest a correction or share a story then please email: community@jamaicaobserver.com.
  7. Lastly, read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

Recent Posts

Archives

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Tweets

Polls

Recent Posts

Archives

Logo Jamaica Observer
Breaking news from the premier Jamaican newspaper, the Jamaica Observer. Follow Jamaican news online for free and stay informed on what's happening in the Caribbean
Featured Tags
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Health
  • Auto
  • Business
  • Letters
  • Page2
  • Football
Categories
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
Ads
img
Jamaica Observer, © All Rights Reserved
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • RSS Feeds
  • Feedback
  • Privacy Policy
  • Editorial Code of Conduct