Silvera seen smiling as prosecutors mull manslaughter plea
Former Member of Parliament Jolyan Silvera was seen smiling Tuesday morning as he was being taken from a courtroom to a holding cell at the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston.
With his hands cuffed behind him as he was being led by members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, the former People’s National Party legislator flashed the cheerful expression that could be an indication that he was pleased with what was discussed in court.
In an interesting twist of events, Silvera who was to go on trial on Monday for murder and using a firearm to commit a felony, pleaded not guilty to murder but instead admitted guilt for manslaughter in relation to the November 2023 death of his wife Melissa Silvera.
READ: Shock guilty plea
Being an in-camera or a private matter, the media was not allowed to sit in on the proceedings.
Prosecutors were expected to say Tuesday if they would accept the guilty plea for manslaughter and using a firearm to commit a felony.
Observer Online understands that Silvera was asked to say whether he was guilty or not guilty of both offences and that he accepted that he was guilty of both offences.
It is now for the judge to review the matter and make a judgment, hopefully on Thursday when the matter returns to court.
When Melissa Silvera was found dead on November 10, 2023 it was believed, based on initial reports, that she had died in her sleep due to natural causes. Her funeral was held two months later in January 2024 at St Andrew Parish Church in Half-Way-Tree just under four weeks after investigators upgraded her cause of death to murder.
Investigators had upgraded the case to murder after an autopsy revealed that fragments from bullets were found inside her body. Sources told Observer Online that a unique identifier for each licensed firearm in Jamaica, which is stored by the Firearm Licensing Authority, was used to prove conclusively that the bullet which killed Melissa came from the gun licensed to her husband. Sources added that initial ballistic tests had not shown that the gun had been fired.
At the funeral, Jolyan Silvera wept openly.
After he was arrested in January 2024, he maintained his innocence.
