UPDATE - Franklyn Huggins loses appeal
His lawyer, Patrick Thompson, among other things argued that some of the evidence was “flimsy”, but yet the jurors were allegedly instructed to take them into consideration during their deliberation.
Principal Crown Counsel Tiffany Scatliffe appeared for the Crown.
Throughout his trial that concluded on June 21, 2010, Huggins, then 53, vehemently denied the allegation, even the Virtual Complainant’s mother– a witness for the defense doubted her daughter’s version of the event.
He was sentenced to 12 years by High Court Judge Indra Harriprashad-Charles on July 6, 2010.
According to court records, Huggins raped the VC in her bedroom while the two were home alone during the early afternoon on January 21, 2007.
In her testimony via video link, the VC testified that Huggins allegedly showed her a pornographic movie of a couple engaging in oral sex in his bedroom, adding that the defendant allegedly said he could make her feel like that.
She had told the court that after feeling uncomfortable over the incident, she left the bedroom and entered hers. It was then Huggins allegedly entered the VC’s room clad only in his underwear.
According the VC, Huggins then forcibly opened her legs and penetrated her, which took between 20 to 30 seconds.
Initially, when arrested by Police, Huggins admitted to showing the VC the porn and smelling her but denied the rape allegation. However, on the witness stand during his trial he refuted the claim of smelling the VC.
Meanwhile, the VC's mother in her testimony informed the court that her daughter was rude to her and Huggins. She also disclosed that at first she had believed her daughter but begun to have doubts after hearing the VC was ‘giggling’ during the rape kit examination at Peebles Hospital.
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