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ANTIGUA OBSERVER- Attorney Wendel Alexander has outlined his reasons to appeal a 27-year sentence handed down on Tuesday against his 24-year-old client Brittany Jno-Baptiste.
He announced his plan to appeal the prison sentence handed down by High Court Judge Justice Tunde Bakre in open court, immediately after the decision.
According to Alexander, the judge’s decision was “massively wrong” and “extremely excessive” in a case that has deeply affected the community.
Brittany Jno-Baptiste was sentenced for the killing of 66-year-old Wendy Jane Finch, who died on October 4, 2021, after a brutal encounter in her residence at Piccadilly.
The defendant initially faced a murder charge but during her trial she changed her plea to guilty of manslaughter by way of diminished responsibility.
Justice Tunde Bakre sentenced Jno-Baptiste to 27 years after considering both aggravating and mitigating factors. The court acknowledged the brutality of the offence but also took into account the defendant’s age at the time of the crime, her diagnosed cannabis-induced psychotic disorder, and her expressed remorse.
“The judge got it massively wrong on the issue of sentencing,” Alexander stated following the court proceedings. “Manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of 35 years and the judge’s starting point at 34 years is extremely excessive. I have never seen an excessive starting point as in this case.”
Alexander argues that his client intended to plead guilty to manslaughter from the beginning.
“I offered manslaughter by way of diminished responsibility to the Crown. The Crown refused to accept this plea because they wanted additional information from the psychiatrist,” he explained. The judge reduced the sentence by only 10 percent, citing that the guilty plea came very late in the proceedings.
“However, she had intended to plead guilty to manslaughter from the very beginning,” he said.
The defence attorney further claimed that the judge failed to adequately consider Jno-Baptiste’s mental state during the commission of the crime, stating: “The judge seemed to equate the fact that she voluntarily consumed cannabis as her own voluntary act and punish her because of that.”
During the sentencing hearing, family members of the victim provided emotional testimonies about the impact of Finch’s death. The victim’s sister, Joanna Finch, said she was “devastated by her death” and suggested that Jno-Baptiste should remain incarcerated until she demonstrates genuine remorse.
The court ordered that the 1,270 days that Jno-Baptiste’s spent on remand be taken into account and that she remains under psychiatric care. Her sentence will be reviewed after she serves 25 years.
“I do not think that the sentence can be rationalized by any measure,” Alexander concluded. “And that is why if I have to do it voluntarily, I do not mind appealing this case on behalf of my client.”
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I would give her life in prison.
What is the reason for challenging the conviction?
I do not know why the JLSC would send two judges who had never conducted a criminal trial to Antigua.
Judges often confer with their colleagues in the same jurisdiction..
Sadly the two in Antigua cannot help each other.
None better than none.
This sentence WILL be reduced by the Appeals Court.
It is excessive and exposes the judge.
It is the same judge who got it massively wrong in the Ray John Case.
Antigua has too much of an active criminal court to send novice judges here to learn the art of being judges.
I guess the DPP’s office loves that judge like fowl loves corn.
Everybody deserves a chance to a fair trail.
Waw… 27 years is a long time
She brutally murdered Jane. No mercy here
I know that as a defense attorney you are paid to preen an champion for your client. However, I can not equate “Brittany Jno-Baptiste was sentenced for the killing of 66-year-old Wendy Jane Finch, who died on October 4, 2021, after a brutal encounter in her residence at Piccadilly.” with extreme sentencing. The crime suits the punishment IMO. A life was lost.
This sentence is just palpably wrong, and cruel. It is far beyond anything a civilized society should accept based on the circumstances.
Perhaps there should be a separate facility for the criminally insane though so they are not with general population of cold blooded murderers.
Crazy people are sent to a penitentiary with psychiatric care until they have served their time. Antigua will not be fair in anything that could interrupt their balanced white tourist or expatriate business. The young girl is mad not Bad.