After more than a decade of pre-trial detention, a former Trinidadian prison officer has been cleared of all criminal charges connected to the fatal stabbing of a co-worker, following a jury verdict that accepted his claim of acting in self-defense.
The case centered on Jevon Atiba Sylvester, now 35 years old, who stood accused of murdering Dominique Bernard, a 37-year-old fellow prison officer, in June 2014. The fatal confrontation grew out of a romantic dispute between the two men, both of whom had been romantically linked to the same female prison officer, who occupied an apartment in Claxton Bay where the incident took place.
Court documents lay out a steady escalation of tensions between the two rivals. The day before the killing, Sylvester made an unplanned visit to the woman’s apartment and found Bernard already there. The following day, Sylvester returned to the property to recover a mobile phone he had left behind during his first visit, with his mother waiting for him in a parked car outside the building. What followed was a physical altercation that left Bernard with multiple stab wounds, which ultimately proved fatal. Sylvester fled the scene immediately after the encounter but turned himself in to local law enforcement officers later the same day.
During the weeks-long trial held at Port of Spain’s Hall of Justice, prosecution attorneys pushed the theory that the killing was premeditated. They argued that during the first encounter between the two men, Sylvester had explicitly threatened Bernard and brandished the same knife that was used in the fatal attack. However, Sylvester consistently denied ever issuing threats, testifying that he only used the knife to protect himself after Bernard launched an unprovoked attack against him.
Lead defense counsel Dane Halls presented two key arguments to the 12-member jury. First, he emphasized that all available evidence corroborated Sylvester’s account of acting in self-defense. As an alternative, Halls urged that if the jury determined the force Sylvester used was disproportionate to the attack, they should consider returning a verdict on the lesser charge of manslaughter, given that his client had been provoked into the confrontation by the existing tensions. On Wednesday, after hours of closed deliberation, the jury delivered a full acquittal, clearing Sylvester of both murder and manslaughter charges before Justice Maria Busby Earle-Caddle.
In comments to reporters following the verdict, Halls extended sincere condolences to Bernard’s family, acknowledging that no outcome in the case could bring back their loved one. “This is not a matter where anyone can be completely happy because a man lost his life,” Halls stated. He also used the moment to publicly condemn the excessive delays in Trinidad’s judicial system that kept his client behind bars for more than 10 years before his case ever went to trial. Following the jury’s decision, Sylvester was released from custody immediately. He had been held at Arouca’s Maximum Security Prison, and had appeared at the trial via remote video link from the facility.