Court of Appeal tosses Tesha Miller convictions, orders retrial

In a dramatic twist in one of Jamaica's most high-profile criminal cases, the Court of Appeal on Friday quashed the convictions of alleged gang leader Tesha Miller in the 2008 murder of former Jamaica Urban Transit Company chairman Douglas Chambers, clearing the way for a retrial.

The appellate court set aside Miller's convictions for accessory before and accessory after the fact to murder and entered verdicts of acquittal, ruling that a new trial should be held "in the interests of justice" on the charge of accessory before the fact.

However, the court made it clear that the clock is ticking, ordering that the retrial must begin within six months after the conclusion of Miller's ongoing case in the Home Circuit Court. If that deadline is missed, the charges are to be stayed unless the delay is caused by the defence.

Miller had been serving a sentence of approximately 39 years, imposed in January 2020, including 38 years and nine months for accessory before the fact and 18 months on the other count.

His appeal challenged the fairness of the trial, with his attorneys arguing that prejudicial evidence tainted the proceedings. Justice Frank Williams delivered the ruling on behalf of the panel comprising Justices Jennifer Straw, Nicole Foster Pusey and David Fraser, who heard the appeal in 2023. A written judgment is to follow.

During arguments, defence attorney John Clarke contended that the case against Miller was fatally compromised by damaging and unfair testimony, including claims by a former gang member that the Clansman gang was responsible for killing 13 of his relatives over a two-year period.

The witness, who had his own life sentence reduced to 10 years under a plea deal, testified that Miller ordered the killing of Chambers by reputed gangster Andre 'Blackman' Bryan, who was later acquitted.

Attorney Isat Buchanan also argued that with the alleged gunman freed, the case against Miller should not stand, while raising concerns about how jurors were selected during the trial.

But then Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn pushed back, insisting the appeal had no merit. She maintained that the trial judge conducted the case fairly and argued that, if anything was found to be wrong, the State should be allowed to retry Miller given what she described as strong evidence still available to the Crown.

Miller, who is currently before the Home Circuit Court in an ongoing trial linked to alleged Clansman gang activities, now faces the prospect of being tried again in the Chambers murder case.

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