Attorney Wendel Alexander has outlined his reasons to appeal a 27-year sentence handed down on Tuesday against his 24-year-old client Brittany Jno-Baptiste.
He announced his plan to appeal the prison sentence handed down by High Court Judge Justice Tunde Bakre in open court, immediately after the decision.
According to Alexander, the judge’s decision was “massively wrong” and “extremely excessive” in a case that has deeply affected the community.
Jno-Baptiste was sentenced for the killing of 66-year-old Wendy Jane Finch, who died on October 4, 2021, after a brutal encounter in her residence at Piccadilly.
The defendant initially faced a murder charge but during her trial she changed her plea to guilty of manslaughter by way of diminished responsibility.
Justice Tunde Bakre sentenced Jno-Baptiste to 27 years after considering both aggravating and mitigating factors. The court acknowledged the brutality of the offence but also took into account the defendant’s age at the time of the crime, her diagnosed cannabis-induced psychotic disorder, and her expressed remorse.
“The judge got it massively wrong on the issue of sentencing,” Alexander stated following the court proceedings. “Manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of 35 years and the judge’s starting point at 34 years is extremely excessive. I have never seen an excessive starting point as in this case.”
Alexander argues that his client intended to plead guilty to manslaughter from the beginning.
“I offered manslaughter by way of diminished responsibility to the Crown. The Crown refused to accept this plea because they wanted additional information from the psychiatrist,” he explained. The judge reduced the sentence by only 10 percent, citing that the guilty plea came very late in the proceedings.
“However, she had intended to plead guilty to manslaughter from the very beginning,” he said.
The defence attorney further claimed that the judge failed to adequately consider Jno-Baptiste’s mental state during the commission of the crime, stating: “The judge seemed to equate the fact that she voluntarily consumed cannabis as her own voluntary act and punish her because of that.”
During the sentencing hearing, family members of the victim provided emotional testimonies about the impact of Finch’s death. The victim’s sister, Joanna Finch, said she was “devastated by her death” and suggested that Jno-Baptiste should remain incarcerated until she demonstrates genuine remorse.
The court ordered that the 1,270 days that Jno-Baptiste’s spent on remand be taken into account and that she remains under psychiatric care. Her sentence will be reviewed after she serves 25 years.
“I do not think that the sentence can be rationalized by any measure,” Alexander concluded. “And that is why if I have to do it voluntarily, I do not mind appealing this case on behalf of my client.”
