By Latrishka Thomas
Two convicted murderers will have to continue to serve their lengthy sentences after the Court of Appeal dismissed their appeal against their sentences and convictions.
The appellants were Edwin Gomez and Isaiah Benjamin who, along with Jerome
Benjamin, were jointly tried and convicted for the murder of Lyndon Isaac – a bystander killed during an armed robbery they committed more than a decade ago.
Gomez was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment with a review after 23 years, while Isaiah was
sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment to be reviewed after 18 years.
The duo believed that the judge made an error in rejecting the ‘no case’ submission their lawyers made during the trial, “erred in leaving the question of joint enterprise to the jury and applied the wrong test as to what constitutes joint enterprise” and “erred in failing to give specific directions during the summation thereby prejudicing the trial. Both appellants argued the ground that the sentence was severe and manifestly excessive,” court documents stated.
Justices of Appeal Davidson Kelvin Baptiste, Mario Michel and Paul Webster, however, upheld the lower court’s decision.
Gomez, Isaiah Benjamin and Jerome Benjamin – while armed and masked – robbed T’s Natural Bamboo Bar in 2010 and then made off in a vehicle of which Isaiah was the driver.
When they entered the building, one of the men fired a gun close to a patron to intimidate him and then searched his person.
The man returned fire and struck Jerome Benjamin.
Isaiah Benjamin and Gomez then sped off in the vehicle leaving Jerome Benjamin at the scene but later returned for him.
Upon leaving the scene for the second time, Gomez fired two shots killing Isaac, a pedestrian.
