Some Jamaica Observer followers on Instagram on Thursday expressed strong disapproval of Chief Justice Bryan Sykes’s acceptance of Jolyan Silvera’s guilty plea for manslaughter in relation to the November 2023 death of his wife Melissa.

Their disapproval stems from the fact that Silvera, a former People’s National Party Member of Parliament, was initially charged with murder and using a firearm to commit a felony. However, on Monday, when the trial was to commence in the Gun Court Division of the Home Circuit Court in Kingston, he admitted guilt to manslaughter instead.

That caused outrage in the public domain as people were convinced that a murder took place and believed that they ought to know the details of what led to the killing. They also expressed belief that Silvera pleaded guilty to the lesser offence to avoid a life sentence.

On Tuesday, prosecutors indicated that they would accept Silvera’s guilty plea for manslaughter.

With the prosecution taking that stance, the ball was left in Sykes’s court for him to decide, as trial judge, if he would accept the plea. He returned on Thursday to rule that the plea was accepted and that Silvera would be sentenced on March 6.

Peter Champagnie, King’s Counsel, who is Silvera’s attorney, declined to comment on the developments following Thursday’s proceedings. Tuesday’s proceedings were held in-camera or in private, which Gun Court sessions usually are, to protect witnesses, among other reasons.

Champagnie shared that the media are highly likely to be allowed inside the courtroom on March 6 when Silvera should be sentenced.

“As it relates to the case itself, it is still at a delicate stage and it would not be prudent to comment on anything to come or anything that happened pertaining to the case today. I make no comment in relation to the developments today. I don’t think it is appropriate because the matter is so sensitive, but what I will say is that I am aware of the issues in the public sphere where there is much talk about the right of the media to be in court and make their own observations and reporting. It is in that context that I wish to indicate that the decision seems to be one where the media is likely to be allowed for the next phase,” he said.

“From that perspective, I will say that I understand the concerns of the media and there are merits in their concern. I do believe that there are sufficient guardrails that can be put in place to address any sensitive issues. We must always remember that there are young children involved. We live in an age now where social media, in terms of what is printed, is forever etched in the archives and cannot go away, so that is a primary concern that I have, but I will say that on the next occasion it appears the media will be allowed,” Champagnie said.

Melissa Silvera died on November 10, 2023 and was initially believed to have succumbed 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 after an autopsy revealed that fragments from bullets were found inside her body.

Sources told the Observer 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, Silvera wept openly.

After he was arrested in January 2024 he maintained his innocence until he cracked on Monday.