Submitted by: D. E. (name deleted) on 6 May 1988 Alleged victim: The author State party: Jamaica Declared inadmissible: 26 March 1990 (thirty-eighth session) Subject matter: Claim of unfair trial by individual sentenced to hard labour Procedural issues: Inadmissibility ratione materiae Substantive issues: Right to a fair trial Article of the Covenant: 14 (2) Article of the Optional Protocol: 2 1. The author of the communication (initial letter dated 6 May 1988 and subsequent correspondence) is D. F., a Jamaican citizen born in 1954, currently serving a 12-year prison term at St. Catherine District Prison, Jamaica. He claims to be the victim of a violation of his human rights by Jamaica. 2.1 The author indicates that he was convicted of felonious wounding by the Circuit Court in Spanish Town on 24 January 1986 and sentenced to 12 years of hard labour. He claims to be innocent of the crime. 2.2 The author, a shopkeeper, states that on 10 March 1985 he was involved in a fight with a younger brother of the victim, E. S., who had allegedly insulted him and tried to steal several bottles of liquor from his shop. On 19 March 1985, stones and a bottle were thrown at his shop, destroying several windows. The author claims that at the time of the crime he was at his shop repairing the damage perpetrated earlier that day, and that he was not the person who, in a fight, had cut four fingers off the victim's hand. 2.3 The author alleges that the testimony of the prosecution's main witness, one R. B., an acquaintance of the victim and of the author, was entirely fabricated. He further claims that the judge misdirected the jury, both about the evaluation of Mrs. B.'s testimony, by stating that she was testifying on his behalf, and about the conflicting evidence presented by the public prosecutor and by the author. 2.4 On 16 December 1986, the author's appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal of Jamaica. The author states that he cannot afford to file a petition for special leave to appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council because he lacks the financial means to do so. A request for legal aid to the Jamaica Council for Human Rights apparently remains unanswered. It appears, however, that the author has not formally applied for legal aid under section 3, paragraph 1, of the Poor Prisoners' Defence Act. 92