The attorney for murder accused, Cordell Farrington, urged jurors yesterday to find her client guilty of manslaughter “not murder” declaring that he is “crazy” as both the defense and prosecution wrapped up their closing arguments in the Supreme Court.
Farrington is standing trial for killing his lover Jamal Robbins in July 2002, and is also charged with the deaths of four of five young boys who went missing in
Grand Bahama in 2003.
Heﾒs expected to stand trial for the boysﾒ murders at a later date.
The prosecution in his present murder trial wants the jury to find him guilty of murder, noting that he has confessed to the brutal killing.
Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryl Grant-Bethel told jurors that Farrington confessed because he felt a heavy burden for committing a crime. She said it was his sanity that led him to confess, and noted that the police had been searching for him prior to that confession.
“Thatﾒs not the sign of a crazy person,” said Mrs. Grant-Bethel, who called Farrington highly intelligent and accused him of fabricating his story that Robbins lived with him.
As she sees it, the prosecution has proven that Farrington murdered Robbins.
Ms. Grant-Bethel asked the jury not to be sidetracked by the defense on what is cold- blooded murder.
She said the manner in which Robbins was killed was cowardly. Farrington told jurors earlier this week that he knocked his victim over his head and about his body with an iron plank as he was lying in a bed they shared.
Farrington is not crazy, but is only acting the part, said Mrs. Grant-Bethel.
She said that the 32 witnesses who testified in the trail did one thing, and that was prove that Farrington was an intelligent individual who knew right from wrong.
Earlier in the week, two psychiatrists testified that Farrington did know right from wrong when he killed Robbins.
Mrs. Grant-Bethel said one sign that Farrington was not crazy is that he is able to make clear decisions, like choosing to move to start a new life after he was released from the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre in 2001.
She noted too that he started a relationship with Katisa Dean Parker, which resulted in a child being brought into the world.
Mrs. Grant-Bethel said she believed Farrington fabricated his story of his sister molesting him. She said that while Farrington claimed that he was not close to his sister, her actions on the day he was arrested say otherwise.
His sister, Corporal Raquel Lightbourne, went to Grand Bahamaﾒs central police station after he was taken into custody.
Ms. Farquharson, meanwhile, said she found the case “troubling” and “very complex”, especially when it came to the testimonies of Dr. Timothy Barrett and Dr. Michael Neville.
She said jurors must look at Farringtonﾒs mind, and she insisted that it is clear that he is ill and needs help.
Ms. Farquharson also told jurors to keep in mind that Farrington has been truthful throughout the whole trial ﾖ including details of their relationship, how he committed the murder, how he dumped the body and how he led police to the remains.
She said the question jurors must now ask is “why” Farrington killed Robbins. She believes they would conclude, “something must be wrong with him.”
Acting Chief Justice Anita Allen is expected to sum up the trial this morning. Jurors could hand down a verdict as early as today.
By: Stephen Gay, The Bahama Journal
