Whether or not Patrick Lovelace undergoes a psychiatric evaluation, he will be sentenced come February 19, 2010.{{more}}

At the scheduled sentencing for Lovelace last Friday, February 5, at the High Court, Director of Public Prosecutions Colin Williams indicated to the court that he received a letter dated February 3, 2010, from the Mental Health Care Centre indicating that Lovelace refused to take part in the psychiatric testing.

Reading parts of the letter, Williams said that Lovelace refused to do the psychiatric examination because he said he was wrongfully accused.

In 2005, Lovelace was found guilty by the High Court of Nanton’s murder. However, the Court of Appeal ordered a re-trial the following year.

On July 15, 2009, Lovelace was again found guilty of the murder of the 12-year-old girl. Her nude body was found hanging from a mango tree in Sion Hill on July 2, 2002.

The DPP said it was the first time he has ever heard of someone who refused to partake in a psychiatric assessment.

“If he is not going to submit to the evaluation, it is my belief that counsel ought to tell him that it is part of the process,” Williams asserted.

In response, Lovelace’s counsel, Bayliss Frederick, told the court that it was the first time he was hearing about the letter. He added that his client believes he’s not guilty, so he was not surprised by the letter.

Presiding judge Justice Frederick Bruce-Lyle told Frederick that the issue was not about Lovelace saying that he is not guilty, but the fact that he was found guilty.

Bruce-Lyle added that the adjournment would serve as time for Lovelace to change his mind or if he didn’t, the sentence of the court would be passed anyway.(KW)