Murder Conviction Confirmed on Appeal

NASSAU, BAHAMAS -The Court of Appeal has upheld the murder conviction of a man who is serving a 31-year sentence for a 2019 shooting outside the Rocker’s Bar on Miami Street. 

Twenty-four-year-old Joel Bullard was found guilty on March 1, 2021 of the murder of Gary Leon, which was captured on the bar’s surveillance footage.

Before the trial, Nathaniel Josey, who witnessed the shooting, died. 

However, his statement to police in which he identified Bullard as the killer was read into evidence.

Josey also picked out Bullard, whom he knew as Fruit Ninja, from a photo lineup.

In seeking to overturn the conviction, defense lawyer David Cash argued the admission of Josey’s statement made the trial unfair because he could not be cross-examined.

Cash also complained that the  trial judge shouldn’t have permitted police officer Leslie Whyte to identify Brown from the surveillance footage.

The appellate court did not find any merit in these grounds.

 However, the court agreed that Whyte gave inadmissible hearsay when gave information contained in the statements of two witnesses, who didn’t testify at the trial. 

According to Whyte, one of those witnesses said they knew the shooter as Joe, while the other called him  Silent’s son.

Despite this error, the court ruled that there was other evidence that supported the conviction.