HAMILTON, Bermuda (CP) - Justis Smith will have to serve a few months in jail after all for stabbing a woman and fighting with another two years ago in Bermuda.
Smith was charged in 1996 with killing Canadian teen Rebecca Middleton of Belleville, Ont. He was acquitted and freed, however, when Judge Vincent Meerabux dismissed the case saying there was insufficient evidence to continue with the trial. But Smith was convicted of violence against two other females in another trial, on charges arising from attacks in the Dockyard area Feb. 2, 2002.The Bermuda Royal Gazette newspaper reported Wednesday that the Court of Appeal has increased Smith's prison sentence to 18 months from the 11 months handed down by a lower court last October.
The earlier sentence in effect enabled Smith, 25, to walk free, because he had already spent 11 months in custody after his arrest.
After the Crown appealed the lower court sentence, the Court of Appeal gave Smith 12 months for the stabbing and six months on the fighting charge, the newspaper said.
The sentences are to be served consecutively. The time Smith has spent in jail will be knocked off the 18 months, leaving him with about seven months of jail time.
