Richard Brown v. The Queen

In January 2003, our client, Mr Brown, was convicted of the murder of Errol Lynch in September 1998 in Jamaica. Our client was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour for a minimum of 25 years until parole. However, Mr Brown has a significant history of mental illness and has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. The case examined whether his conviction for murder was unsafe in light of his diagnosis. Our team advised Mr Brown on a pro-bono appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) of his murder conviction and sentence. The JCPC did not overturn Mr Brown’s conviction, but sent his case back to the Jamaican Court of Appeal for re-sentencing which led to a reduction of his sentence by eight years.