by Linda Straker
- Found guilty of double murder in 1988 by use of a firearm
- Death sentence commuted to life imprisonment in 1991 by Mercy Committee
- Hon. Mr Justice Iain Morley KC ruled that Hall be re-sentenced by High Court so that his sentence becomes lawful under Grenada’s law
A man who was found guilty of double murder in 1988 but had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment in 1991 by the Mercy Committee, will be re-sentenced after a High Court declared that his commutation by the Mercy Committee was unconstitutional.
He was among prisoners along with the grouping known as the Grenada 17 whose death sentences were commuted in 1991 by the Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy (the Mercy Committee). This committee is a body established under the Constitution to advise the Governor-General on the exercise of mercy to prisoners sentenced to death or other serious offences.
The committee members are the Minister for the time being designated under section 72(2) of the Constitution, who shall be Chairman, the Attorney-General, the Chief Medical Officer of the Government of Grenada, and 3 other members appointed by the Governor-General, by instrument in writing under his hand.
Rudolf Hall, who murdered a couple by use of a firearm 37 years ago, was represented by attorney Jerry Edwin. Edwin was seeking relief under the Constitution of Grenada, arguing the automatic sentence of death passed for double murder in 1988 became retrospectively illegal owing to evolving case law from the 2000s.
Hall, through his attorney, argued that the commutation of his sentence in 1991 by the Governor-General to life imprisonment, being a commutation of an unlawful sentence, became retrospectively unlawful. Edwin argued that, presently, Hall’s current imprisonment at Richmond Hill, he is not under a lawful sentence and requested that the High Court order his release, with a declaration that he has been illegally detained since 1991, or in the alternative, re-sentence him by the High Court so that his sentence becomes lawful.
On 21 July 2025, the Hon. Mr Justice Iain Morley KC ruled that Hall be re-sentenced by the High Court so that his sentence becomes lawful under Grenada’s law. The judge in his ruling declared the 1991 commutation retrospectively unconstitutional and ordered that Rudolf Hall, lawfully convicted of double murder in 1988, shall remain remanded in custody for sentence, as a re-sentence, in Grenada, with expedition by an Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) High Court Judge, to be appointed by the Chief Justice.
It is expected that the re-sentence will occur during the upcoming sitting of the assizes, which will start in September 2025.
Hall, according to the judgment, was at one point recommended for release on 13 December 2013 by the prison review committee, under the prerogative of mercy guided by Section 72 of the Constitution. It is not known why he was not released in 2013.
