Anglin’s life tariff upheld in nightclub murder
(CNS): Devon Anglin (36) has been denied leave to appeal a 30-year life sentence he is serving for the murder of Carlos Webster (35) in 2009. The three-decade prison term is the statutory recommended time for any life sentence for murder, and in a judgment delivered on Tuesday following an application last year, the court upheld the term. The high court found there was nothing to support a reduction in the sentence, which in light of tariff rulings applied since his sentencing, could justifiably have been even higher.
Anglin, originally from West Bay and believed to be a member of the Birch Tree Hill Gang, gunned down Webster, who was said to be a member of the rival Logswood Gang, in the middle of the dance floor at what was then the Next Level nightclub in front of dozens of witnesses. Following an altercation with Webster, Anglin had retrieved a gun from the men’s bathroom that had been smuggled into the club to evade the metal detectors.
He then shot Webster in the head and fired two other shots, one of which injured an innocent bystander, before he fled the scene. Anglin, who denied being the gunman, was convicted in 2012, largely on testimony given by anonymous witnesses, as the police battled to find anyone who saw the killing willing to come forward.
Anglin appealed the conviction for murder twice. First, he argued that the identification evidence was poor and that the witnesses should not have been granted anonymity so their evidence should not have been admitted. But that appeal failed. On a second attempt, after admitting that he was indeed the gunman but claiming that he had been provoked, he pressed for the conviction for murder to be replaced by manslaughter. However, that effort also failed.
In the most recent appeal, Anglin was looking to reduce his time in jail, arguing that not only had he been provoked, which should justify a cut in the time he must serve, but also that he was suffering from serious mental health problems as a result of a major head injury from a machete sustained during an attack by several men when he was just 18 years old.
Based on fresh evidence from Dr Marc Lockhart, a psychiatrist from Behavioural Health Associates Cayman, and psychologist Dr Liezel Anguelova, Anglin argued that at the time he shot Webster, he was suffering the effects of brain damage as a result of that attack and lost control of his ability to restrain himself. This would move his case into the ‘exceptional’ category, justifying a cut in the minimum time he must serve before he is eligible to be considered for parole.
But given the history of submissions made by Anglin over the years, the appeal court judges found they could not rely on any account he now gives as to the events leading up to the murder. In addition, during his original sentencing, heard by former chief justice Anthony Smellie, his attorney had accepted that this was a cold-blooded killing.
“It was in our judgment open to him as the trial judge to approach the facts in the way that he did,” the court found in this most recent appeal. “In the final analysis, whatever the extent of the previous provocation, this was the deliberate murder of someone with a firearm. While there was no premeditation in terms of planning, the Applicant, when in the restroom, had, or arranged for, access to a gun which he deliberately decided to use in order to kill someone. This was, in other words, no spur of the moment offence.”
Denying the appeal, the court said the chief justice had been entitled to conclude there was no reason to interfere with the statutory minimum of 30 years.
See the full judgment on the judicial judgments register here criminal appeal #021 of 2017.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
So he lied, denying he murdered Webster in the first two cases. Then when he thought he could get the charge reduced to manslaughter he suddenly remembered that he killed him because he was provoked. Yet, when that didn’t work he claims PSTD from a machete attack.
Stop trying to justify what you did, you took a life, you wanted to play “bad man” so now do the thirty year sentence that “you” brought onto yourself!
All laws in Cayman helps the criminals, and dont help the law abiding citizens. So sad what money and votes have made Cayman into.
If that is true, how did he get a life sentence ? Must have been the judicial
System and the laws ??!!
Make sense please
Anglin argued that at the time he shot Webster, he was suffering the effects of brain damage as a result of that attack and lost control of his ability to restrain himself.
I would say the Court is being most helpful by assisting him with a 30-year restraint. Unfortunately, that probably means he will be out in less than 15 for “good” behavior.
No he won’t. In life sentences the tariff is the minimum he must serve before being considered for any release. He will do a minimum of 30 years.
Not with a murder/life sentence, that is why he was in court trying to get it reduced. There is no time reduction when there is a tarrif of 30 years. He will serve 30 years
His family should have to pay for these repeated appeals! Not the public purse.
Dear thug, you did the crime (+ many more unpunished crimes – including that lil baby boy at the gas station) – SO GO DO YA TIME AND HUSH!
This is actually a comment for the article after on the lady stealing people deposit money. That article is closed for comment. However I am triggered by the request from the police for assistance.
I am sure there are hundreds of police reports on people who took deposits and did not give what was promised and instead pocketed the money ie STOLE money. And I am sure each time the police stated “it is a civil matter and the police cannot do anything. ”
I know a woman on minimum wage where she made a deposit for an apartment and never got the apartment or a return of her cash. Exactly the same as the article. She made a report to the police and was told “there is nothing the police can do. It is a civil matter “.
So my advice to the police is to go back to all the already reported cases of money theft and get those people back their money. Charge the offenders who know the police will do nothing. When people see actions, maybe they will report these crimes to the police.
some things never change….in 2010 a really crazy property manager, she was later fired, had changed the locks on the apartment we were renting after assuming that we will be breaking the lease and not paying next month rent. Yeah, she was that crazy in her mind…
Here we are, came home from work, unable to get in. It was getting dark, all our stuff inside, so we call the police and they say: “there is nothing the police can do. It is a civil matter “.
An eviction without a court order is unlawful in any civilized country, landlords are arrested and put in prison if they do that.
What if one of us was sick and the medicine was inside our apartment? We needed to change, eat and be back at work at 8am next morning.
So, NO, EVICTION WITHOUT A PROPER COURT ORDER IS NOT A CIVIL MATTER.
P.S. We sued the landlord, property manager and got reimbursed for the attorney fees and got our deposits back. But I’ll tell you judicial system in Cayman works with the speed of a snail. We wanted to file a complaint against RCIPS, but I believe there were no an ombudsmen In Cayman at that time.
Dump! Simply dump.!
He should be there for 100 years. He also killed that toddler at the gas station in WB.
what?!!!
https://caymannewsservice.com/2016/01/not-guilty-verdict-in-child-murder-case/
He was acquitted
@8:46pm – acquitted off of technicalities only! Everyone in WB knows he did it, and some even helped him after the fact too.
What happened?
He tried to murder someone else and toddler was killed by a stray bullet.
And he has the audacity to appeal his sentence now. As the saying goes here on the Rock, “the devil don’t like ugly” Cayman is better off either him locked up .
Wow, and they still let him out to his mothers ceremony.