A 31-year-old father has been granted his wish to see his twin sons for the first time, after he was released from prison yesterday on time-served, having spent almost eight years on remand awaiting trial.
Justice Navindra Singh before whom Terence Hodge appeared said that the length of time he has spent on remand just awaiting trial amounts in itself to a sentence for manslaughter to which he pleaded for the unlawful killing of a man with whom he had a fight.
Hodge, called ‘Mice Man’ had been indicted for the May 26th, 2013 murder of Adrian Richmond to which he pleaded not guilty, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter, accepting that he had unlawfully killed Richmond.
The prosecution’s facts which were not disputed by Hodge, were that on the day in question both he and Richmond were at a dogfight, when, following an argument, a fight broke out between them.
Prosecutor Tyra Bakker told the court that Hodge began cuffing Richmond who fell to the ground, after which he went over him and stabbed him in the chest with an icepick.
An autopsy report she said revealed the he died of multiple stab wounds.
In a tearful address to the court, Hodge said that he was sincerely sorry for what he had done and begged Richmond’s family to forgive him.
To the dead man’s brother who was
present in court, Hodge said that while he knew that saying sorry would never bring his brother back, he nevertheless wanted him to know that he was; and asked that he be forgiven.
Hodge said that he is a changed man because of the incident and wishes he could turn back the hands of time and also change his “foolish mistake.”
“I am learning every day. I would do things differently,” he added.
In a mitigating plea to the court, defence attorney Dexter Todd presented his client as a model prisoner whom he said has no antecedents.
He said that Hodge has lived through several fires at the prison during the past 7 and a ½ years he has been incarcerated and more recently has had to deal with the coronavirus with which the prison is also now afflicted.
He said that all these experiences have, however, helped to shape him and that he has been making good rehabilitative progress during the time he has been incarcerated.
In a plea for mercy on behalf of Hodge, Todd said that his client has never seen his twin sons who were not yet born at the time of his incarceration.
“Oh what a uniting that would be,” the lawyer said, stating that the father yearns to see his boys.
Bakker said that Richmond was a father of four and that his family still mourns his death.
She asked for a sentence that would reflect the nature and gravity of the offence.
The judge in his address to Hodge said that the time he had spent on remand was long, but said he hoped he would have also used it as a time for reflection.
He said, too, that the length of time was also equal to what could be a sentence for manslaughter.
In the circumstances; and given Hodge’s early plea and show of remorse coupled with his attorney’s mitigating plea, Justice Singh informed a visibly relieved and grateful Hodge that he would be sentenced to time-served.
According to reports, Richmond and his brother had visited the illegal dogfight as spectators and while they were there, an argument erupted after persons lost a bet.
Relatives had said that they were not part of the betting.
