The relative of a man serving a sentence for wounding with intent, believes if he had given his defence from the witness box, and faced cross-examination, he would have been freed by the jury.

"My cousin is now in prison serving a sentence and it has been bothering me as to what went wrong at his trial, because I feel he should have benn acquitted," the relative said.

"The case, to me, was a simple one. The complainant was the one who first confronted my cousin over a woman, with whom they both had an intimate relationship. When the man approached my cousin, he pointed his finger in my cousin's face and told him to leave the woman alone. My cousin replied that it was only the woman who could tell him to leave her.

"The quarrel turned real ugly and they began to fight. According to reports, it was during the fight that my cousin grabbed a machete and chopped the man.

"I attended the trial and I honestly believed that my cousin was going to swear on the bible and give his defence from the witness box but he did not. He stood in the dock and gave his side of the story. I just feel that if he had given his defence from the witness box the jurors would have given his case more weight, and he would not have been found guilty," she said.

The law gives an accused person three choices to state his or her defence. An accused is told at the end of the Crown's case of the choices open to him to give his defence. The three options open to an accused are to say nothing, give an unsworn statement from the dock, where the accused cannot be cross-examined, or go into the witness box, give his defence and then face cross-examination.

It is the prosecution which must prove its case against an accused person. There are many instances in which accused persons have given unsworn statements and have been freed. In your cousin's case perhaps after the Crown's case, was presented, the jury came to the conclusion that he used excessive force during the fight. The complainant was the one who confronted him but, according to your report, the complainant did no have a weapon. It was your cousin who grabbed a machete and chopped the complainant.