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She killed her own brother and was sentenced to life for it, but now that conviction has been thrown out and Corozal resident Tifara Smith will have a retrial. The stunning decision was handed down today by the Court of Appeals. Stunning we say because apparently it was an error made by the trial judge Justice Herbert Lord that resulted in the Appeals Court decision.

Twenty four year old Smith was represented by attorney Simeon Sampson who appealed Justice Lord’s decision on five grounds. But it was on the fourth ground that the Court of Appeals decided the case needed to be retried. Why? According to court reports, Justice Lord misdirected the jury when he directed them on how to deal with the issue of self defense which was Tifara Smith’s defence.

The panel of judges at the Court of Appeals found that Justice Lord erred when he told the jurors that the force used was excessive because the accused used a knife while the deceased was unarmed. The Appeals judges found that the misdirection may have influenced the jury’s decision when they found Tifara Smith guilty of murder on July ninth, 2009. She was sentenced to life imprisonment on that same day

The fatal stabbing occurred on April twenty ninth, 2007 at the family’s residence at number thirty Second Street North in Corozal Town. Police investigations reveal that around one thirty that afternoon, Tiffara Smith stabbed her brother Dale Lino in the chest. Smith alleged that Lino had picked the lock on her room door, went inside and stole ten dollars and four packs of noodles. Consequently an altercation started between the sister and the brother. It was during this time that Lino allegedly starting choking Smith and Smith then stabbed Lino with the knife.