Smith, Michael v The Attorney General

IN 'THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE OF JAMAICA

IN COMMON LAW

SUIT NO. C.L 2001-SO44

BETWEEN

AND

MICHAEL SMITH CLAIMANT

ATTORNEY - GENERAL

OF JAMAICA DEFENDANT

Miss Christine Hudson & lWiss Alicia Thomas instructed by K.C Neita & Co, for claimant.

Miss Katherine Francis, Peter Wilson & Garfield Haisley instructed by the Director of State

Proceedings for defendant

Heard: December 13,2004 and Februarv 17,2005

[I] All along, from the very beginning, there has been a touch of Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock

weaved into the fabric of this case. On the account of The Attorney-General of Jamaica,

on February 10, 1999, of all the buses criss-crossing the heart of Kingston, some

strange twist of fate directed Michael Smith to try to rob an armed plain-clothed police officer

travelling on a No. 78 bus travelling to August Town, in the parish of Saint Andrew.

They say that Michael Smith attacked Corporal Walker with a knife. Corporal Patrick

Walker opened fire wounding him. Implicitly, they argue that police officers must sometimes

make difficult, split-second decisions about how much force to use; they say that is

all that Corporal Walker did; they ask the court to find that Corporal Walker was in fear of

his life and acted, honestly, in self-defence.