NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council has denied the appeal of convicted murderer Kofhe Goodman, bringing an end to his near-decade-long legal fight against his conviction for the 2011 murder of 11-year-old Marco Archer.
“Permission to appeal be refused because there is no risk that a serious miscarriage of Justice has occurred, and the proposed appeal is devoid of merit and has no prospect of success,” the UK-based court said.
Marco was found dead in bushes behind an apartment complex where Goodman lived on Yorkshire Street on September 28, 2011.
The sixth-grade student of Columbus Primary was reported missing after he failed to return home from the store purchasing candy on September 23, 2011.
His body was found wrapped in a sheet, and his clothes were found in the garbage in front of the complex.
Goodman, also known as Edwardo Ferguson, was convicted of Marco’s murder in August 2013, and sentenced to death by hanging in October of the same year.
However, his conviction was overturned on appeal in September 2016 and a retrial was ordered on the basis that the conduct of his counsel at the original trial and pretrial publicity prior to the trial affected the fairness of the trial.
Goodman was again convicted of the murder in 2017 and was sentenced to 55 years imprisonment on May 7, 2018.
He was represented by current-National Security minister Wayne Munroe, QC.
Munroe represented Goodman on appeal, he did not represent him at his original trial.
Six days later, Goodman attempted to appeal his conviction, however, the notice of appeal was not received by the court until November 26, 2018.
In June 2021, the Court of Appeal refused to give an extension of time to appeal his 2018 conviction on the basis that the proposed appeal “has no prospects of success”.
The matter was heard by Court of Appeal Justices Sir Michael Barnett, Jon Isaacs, and Roy Jones.
Attorney Stanley Rolle represented Goodman.
Hang ‘em high