Jamal Kino Armbrister (Appellant) v The King (Respondent) (The Bahamas)

Case summary

Case ID

JCPC/2025/0061

Jurisdiction

Bahamas

Parties

Appellant(s)

Jamal Kino Armbrister

Respondent(s)

The King

Issue

Are Mr Armbrister’s two murder convictions safe?

Facts

Mr Jamal Armbrister (‘the Appellant’) was convicted of two murders by the Supreme Court of the Bahamas. He was convicted of murdering Mr Emico Russell on 26 January 2007 in a Nassau nightclub and Mr Shervin Miller shortly afterwards in a car. The Appellant was identified as Mr Russell’s murderer by a nightclub security guard who had witnessed the murder. In his police interview, the Appellant stated that he had gone to the nightclub with another man, Franklyn, and that Franklyn had then shot Mr Russell. The Appellant’s co-defendant also gave a statement. He said that he driven the Appellant and another man to the nightclub, the two men then entered the nightclub with a gun, he heard a gunshot, and the two men then ran back to the car and instructed him to drive away. The Defence claimed that the police obtained both these confessions by violence. In his police interview, the Appellant stated that Franklyn had shot Mr Miller in the getaway car shortly after the nightclub shooting because he was a potential ‘snitch’. The Appellant admitted that he had helped hide Mr Miller’s body and subsequently led the police to it. A blood-stained white hoodie jacket found in the getaway car had DNA samples consistent with the Appellant and Mr Miller’s DNA. This hoodie resembled that which the security guard described Mr Russell’s murderer as wearing. DNA samples retrieved from the getaway car’s floor were also consistent with the Appellant’s DNA. The Appellant did not give evidence at his trial. The Appellant was convicted of both murders by a jury on 6 November 2012. He was sentenced to two concurrent 60-year sentences of imprisonment. On 24 September 2015, the Court of Appeal of the Bahamas considered an appeal against his convictions and sentence. The Court of Appeal rejected both appeals but held that the two years the Appellant had spent in pre-trial custody should count towards his sentence. He now appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Date of issue

7 July 2025

Case origin

PTA

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