Woman on trial for Reggae Girl’s murder found guilty
Shari-Lee Crooks / Our Today
Rushelle Foster, the young woman who was on trial from the murder of Reggae Girl Tarania Clarke, has been found guilty of manslaughter.
Manslaughter is a lesser charge and is usually charged together with murder as an alternative. This means that if a person is on trial for murder, there is usually an option to find them guilty of manslaughter arising from the same circumstances as an alternative.
Murder requires the jury to be convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the person accused premeditated the actions that led to the death of the victim and acted on those prior plans. Manslaughter, on the other hand, is a lesser charge wherein an accused has allegedly killed a person but their actions where not done out of pre-meditated malice.
During the course of the trial, the prosecution presented Foster as the aggressor who initiated the physical altercation and the one who drew the knife that was eventually killed the footballer. During her unsworn statement from the dock, Foster recounted the events leading up to the fateful night and painted Clarke as a jealous and abusive person, who became enraged because Foster ended their relationship. She said she believed that Clarke would have killed her if she was able to disarm her.
While the prosecution asked the jury to disregard the consideration of self-defence, Foster’s defence team still chose to stress the self-defence argument, asserting that their client’s actions could not even amount to the lesser manslaughter charge.
Self-defence is what is known as a complete defence, meaning if it is successfully argued, the accused person would be acquitted of all charges. There are partial defences such as provocation that could reduce the charge from murder to manslaughter, as the element of premeditation is eliminated.
A date has not been confirmed for Foster’s sentencing hearing.
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