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After being imprisoned since March 2003, Nardis Maynard finally walked out of His Majesty’s Prison a free man with no criminal record today, Monday 4th November 2024.

Nardis Maynard has maintained his innocence for over 21 years. At the time he was convicted for murder, he had a clean criminal record and had never been inside a courtroom. The judge failed to give the jury a good character direction and his defence lawyers failed to call his two alibi witnesses even though a notice of alibi had been given to the court and the DPP. There was no DNA evidence linking Nardis to any crime and the eye witness testimony was full of contradictions; the trial judge failed to properly explain all these inconsistencies to the jury. After being convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2004, his appeal to the Court of Appeal was then abandoned by his defence lawyers, Dr Henry Browne and Mr Anthony Johnson, without his knowledge or consent.

After several years of turmoil in prison, Nardis finally convinced new lawyers to take up his case in 2014. The new legal team reviewed the case and discovered a litany of errors which occurred during the original trial and appeal. They then worked for the next 10 years to reopen his case and overturn his conviction, appearing at the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal and at the Privy Council in London on a pro bono basis, as they never charged Nardis any money for their services.

In his fight to obtain justice, Nardis Maynard has been represented by Siobhan Grey KC and Richard Vardon of 18 St. John Street Chambers in England, and Talibah Byron of Byron & Byron Attorneys-at-law in St Kitts. This legal team has been supported by the Death Penalty Project, an NGO based in London, England.

The Privy Council heard the matter on 6th June 2024 and then delivered their ruling on 1st August 2024 where they unanimously quashed the conviction. The Privy Council agreed with Nardis Maynard’s legal team that he had suffered a serious miscarriage of justice due to the wrongs which took place in his case. The Privy Council then sent the matter back to the Court of Appeal to decide if there would be a retrial.

On 4th November 2024, the Court of Appeal convened a hearing. The Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Adlai Smith, agreed with Nardis Maynard’s legal team that it was not in the interest of justice to pursue a retrial, and that Nardis should be immediately released.

This decision was based on the number of deficiencies in the prosecution’s evidence, the grave discrepancies in the eye witness testimony, the significant duration of time which Nardis has already spent behind bars, the fact that witnesses on both sides have since passed away (including Nardis’s brother, Eric), and the fact that a fair trial for Nardis is no longer possible.

Justice Margaret Price-Findlay, Justice of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean, stated that it was “sad and unfortunate” that Nardis Maynard has suffered such lengthy delays in getting justice through the system, and she ordered the Director of Public Prosecutions to put the necessary documentation together so that he can be freed from prison “forthwith.”

After a long and difficult ordeal in which two decades of his life was taken, Nardis Maynard finally walked out of the prison with his lawyer Talibah Byron as a free man today. His perseverance did not allow him to give up despite all the obstacles he faced. Nardis is grateful to all who believed in his innocence and prayed for him throughout this journey.

Nardis Maynard is the son of Hazeline “Cutie” Maynard of Prickle Pear Alley, Basseterre, St. Kitts.