CONVICTED killer Rushane Barnett, who has ditched the attorney assigned by the court to argue his appeal, should get a second chance to mount his arguments for a lower sentence in February next year before an Appeal Court panel.

Barnett, who was sentenced by Supreme Court judge Justice Leighton Pusey in October 2022 to five concurrent life sentences for knifing his cousin Kimesha Wright and her four children to death at their Cocoa Piece, Chapelton, Clarendon, residence in June 2022, is to serve 61 years and eight months in prison before being eligible for parole. He has, however, filed a notice of appeal on the basis that his sentence was extreme.

The matter was heard in part on Monday at which time attorney Kemar Robinson, who was assigned by the court to handle the matter, told the panel of Appeal Court judges — comprising justices Frank Williams, Jennifer Straw and Evan Brown — that having reviewed the record of the proceedings as presided over by Justice Pusey, he found that Barnett had no recourse in law to challenge the judge’s decision.

“In reviewing the transcript I found no basis on which I can make submissions on the grounds filed by the appellant,” Robinson told the court on Monday.

“At the end of it I formed the view that the learned trial judge followed the proper sentencing exercise as prescribed by the various authorities (case law) and the sentencing guidelines and, for the most part, the procedure is unassailable,” he said adding, “In those circumstances I will not be in a position to challenge the sentencing [to show that it is manifestly excessive].”

Robinson made it clear that the convicted man had filed the notice of appeal on his own, without the benefit of any legal advice.

Robinson, who was then told by the court to get written instructions from Barnett, returned on Friday and indicated that the convicted man “did not agree with [his] position and wishes to retain new counsel in the matter”.

“I explained the totality of the situation to the applicant and he is of the view that the sentence can be challenged. He wishes to retain new counsel,” Robinson told the Appeal Court panel.

Justice Williams, in querying whether Barnett wanted his family to retain an attorney or wanted the court to assign one, said a new Legal Aid assignment is to be considered by October 30 this year if new counsel is not retained by that date.

Barnett was also represented by a court-assigned attorney when the matter was heard by the Supreme Court.

On Friday, Justice Williams said the earliest date available for Barnett’s matter to be heard afresh is February 17, 2025.

“We were quite ready and prepared to embark on the matter this morning,” he said in adjourning the hearing.

The victims — Wright and her children Kimanda Smith, 15; Sharalee Smith, 12; Rafaella Smith, 5; and 23-month-old Kishawn Henry Jr — were discovered inside their house before dawn on June 21, 2022 with chop wounds and their throats slashed.

According to Barnett, Wright — who operated a shop at the premises where she lived — had disrespected him in the days before the murders. He claimed that a customer had come to the premises, whom he had served, but his cousin was upset and told him he was never to serve her customers, grabbed the cash from his hand, and splashed water in his face. He said he was offended from that instant. A subsequent clash with his cousin, he said, led to the stabbings.

After committing the murders, Barnett fled to Wilson Run in Trelawny where he was apprehended. He was charged three days later, based on a caution statement he gave to the police.

Barnett narrowly escaped the death penalty after he pleaded guilty to the murders, resulting in the Crown withdrawing the initial notice.

Justice Pusey, in his summation before handing down the sentences, had expressed “eternal hope” that Barnett’s name be forgotten and his victims’ immortalised.

A forensic psychiatrist who assessed Barnett in 2022 said he had no major mental illness but he “displayed features which suggest that he has an antisocial personality disorder”.

According to the doctor, he found that Barnett understood the nature of the offence and was not acting under any abnormality of mind when he committed the offence. He said, although Barnett indicated that he heard voices, his examination of him did not uncover any signs of delusion in his history. He further said Barnett “appeared eager to deflect responsibility for the alleged offence to his cousin’s mother by claiming that she caused Obeah to be on him”.

A forensic psychologist who examined Barnett revealed that he had a tendency to be superficial, referring to a habit of being “smooth and slick”. The expert also revealed that Barnett lacked openness, does not accept responsibility, is unreliable, displays adult antisocial behaviour, and lacks empathy.

Barnett reportedly admitted to killing the five but said voices in his head told him to do so. He added that he had been hearing voices since he was 18 years old and that witchcraft was being used against him, causing him to commit the murders.