The Court of Appeal on Wednesday held the first hearing in the appeal by Mark Assing, 49, against his conviction in 2014 for murder.
Assing, then 44, was convicted of the murder of his neighbour, Abiola Eadie, in 2012, during a row over an injured game cock. He was sentenced to 66 years.
Following yesterday’s hearing, the matter was adjourned until January 23rd for continuation.
During his 2014 trial, Assing had claimed that it was Eadie’s brother, whose name was given as ‘Buck Man,’ who had shot her by accident. Assing said that ‘Buck Man’ had struck him with a gun, which caused it to go off, hitting Eadie.
He had also said that he was physically incapable of pulling a trigger, as he was born without the ability to bend the index finger of his right hand, which was his dominant hand.
In passing sentence, Justice Navindra Singh noted that there was overwhelming evidence against Assing and that though he knew he was guilty he had wasted the court’s time by not confessing. Justice Singh further said that Assing chose to deem the testimonies of the prosecution’s witnesses as untrue and blame the murder on someone else.
Justice Singh began with a sentence of 60 years, before adding 8 years because a gun was used to commit the murder and subtracting the 2 years Assing spent on remand.
Assing is being represented by attorney Glenn Hanoman.
