Jolyan Silvera, a former Jamaican Member of Parliament, has maintained his innocence in his spouse’s homicide case after his preliminary court docket look this week.
The former St. Mary Western representative for the Individuals’s Nationwide Occasion is charged with the homicide of his spouse Melissa, who was killed final 12 months.
It was beforehand reported that Melissa died in her sleep on November 10, 2023, on the couple’s residence in Stony Hill, St. Andrew. However the police later upgraded their probe to a homicide investigation after her autopsy examination revealed she was shot no less than 3 times.
Jolyan was formally charged on January 19.
He made his first court docket look on January 25, nevertheless, journalists, in addition to Silvera’s daughter and her mom, have been barred from the listening to.
The order to exclude the media and Silvera’s household was issued by presiding decide Justice Vinette Graham-Allen, who mentioned, “One has to train discretion in every case.”
He’ll subsequent seem in court docket on February 8.
Jolyan Silvera maintains his innocence
Silvera’s defence lawyer King’s Counsel Peter Champagnie spoke to the media following the court docket look on Thursday.
He indicated that he intends to make a bail utility for Silvera, however mentioned {that a} explicit doc is required by the defence to take action. The doc is predicted to be prepared by the following court docket date.
Champagnie additionally identified that his shopper is sustaining his innocence.
“He has maintained his place of innocence from day one. I’m not saying that he’s, as a result of I perceive that there’s a report back to that impact. No lawyer ought to ever actually say that as a result of in the event you so are sure, you then could be a witness,” he mentioned.
Consider the youngsters, says lawyer
Amid public discourse and conspiracy theories, Champagnie additionally cautioned Jamaicans in opposition to making disparaging feedback on the matter, for the sake of the Silvera youngsters.
“You’ve got many individuals who’ve sought to attempt to convict already, and that’s unlucky. I feel it will be significant that, regardless of your views, there are younger youngsters concerned and it’s a very, very troublesome time for these three youngsters,” Champagnie advised journalists exterior the court docket, including that he was “not barring anybody from their constitutional proper of freedom of expression.”
The couple had 4 youngsters collectively. They first had twins Adam and Aden, adopted by Justin, who drowned within the swimming pool at their St. Andrew in 2017 on the age of two. Two years later, the couple had their fourth son, Axel.
