30
the corpse and the second is comprised of two reports prepared by an official from
the Scientific-Forensic Centre in Trinidad and Tobago.
Thomas Warlow established that a 16-bore shotgun, the shotgun allegedly found on
Mr. Benjamin, cannot chamber or fire 12-bore shotgun cartridges of the kind used in
the murder and found at the crime scene. Consequently, Mr. Warlow concluded that
the shotgun allegedly belonging to Peter Benjamin could not have been used in the
murder for which he has been found guilty.
b) Expert Witness Report of Vivien Stern and Andrew Coyle on
conditions of detention
Vivien Stern and Andrew Coyle 82 submitted a joint expert report on the conditions of
detention in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, in relation to all the persons
comprised in the present Case.
In their report, the expert witnesses indicated that prisoners remain in detention for
excessively long periods, and that inmates in Port of Spain who are sentenced to
death do not receive adequate medical care, are at times subjected to cruel
treatment, live in conditions that are degrading and dangerous to their health and
are deprived of proper access to fresh air and exercise.
Expert witnesses Coyle and Stern argued that the combination of all of these aspects
of prison treatment, routinely applied to prisoners for long periods, constitutes cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment in violation Article 5(2) of the American Convention
on Human Rights.
c) Expert Witness Report of Scharlette Holdman on the nature and
role of mitigating factors in capital cases in the United States of
America
The expert report of Scharlette Holdman 83 discusses mitigating factors of criminal
responsibility and the preparation of evidence to demonstrate mitigating
circumstances for cases involving crimes that formally may carry the death penalty.
It also describes the qualifications and responsibilities of mitigation specialists, the
relevance of mitigating evidence at the various stages of criminal proceedings and
provides examples of cases in which mitigation has affected the outcome of a
criminal proceeding.
or the owner of the murder weapon, and that he did not make the statement that was submitted as
evidence against him.
82
The Inter-American Commission submitted the expert report of Baroness Vivien Stern, Honorary
Secretary General of Penal Reform International and Honorary Fellow of the London School of Economics
and of Andrew Coyle, criminologist with 25 years experience at the senior level of the prison services of
the United Kingdom. In addition, they are Researcher and Director, respectively, of the International
Centre for Prison Studies in London, Cf. Filed as "Expert Witness Report from Vivien Stern and Andrew
Coyle on Conditions of Detention," supra note 76.
83
Scharlette Holdman indicated in her written report that she is the Executive Director of the
Center for Capital Assistance in San Francisco, California and a specialist in the research, development,
and presentation of mitigating evidence in capital cases, pre and post conviction. Cf. Filed as "Hilaire,
Constantine and Benjamin et al. v. Trinidad and Tobago, Merits," supra note 77.