Kellan Lewis was convicted based on the testimony of an unreliable witness, defence lawyer John Perry QC said yesterday.Lewis yesterday appeared in the Court of Appeal, appealing against convictions of manslaughter and possessing a bladed weapon in connection to the killing of 18-year-old Kellon Hill.But while Mr Perry said that the evidence “overwhelmingly” suggested that Zharrin Simmons, who was acquitted of murdering Mr Hill, was the one who fatally stabbed the teenager, Director of Public Prosecutions Rory Field maintained that there was more than enough evidence to convict Lewis of manslaughter.On August 9, 2008, Mr Hill was leaving a party at Elbow Beach when Lewis reportedly grabbed a chain from around his neck.A number of teenagers took part in the ensuing brawl, in which Mr Hill suffered a fatal stab wound.Lewis, along with Ms Simmons, Gary Hollis, Devon Hairston and Kevin Warner, were charged with the killing. All but Lewis were acquitted by a jury on the direction of Judge Charles-Etta Simmons partway through the trial after she ruled there was no case to answer based on the evidence.The jury failed to reach a verdict on Lewis, but following a retrial he was convicted and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for manslaughter.Addressing the Court of Appeal yesterday, Mr Perry said that only a single witness, a sixteen-year-old girl, testified that she had seen Lewis stab Mr Hill during the fight.However, he said her evidence was unreliable, contradicting forensic evidence, statements from other witnesses and her own testimony in a previous trial.The witness said during the Supreme Court trial that she saw Lewis stab Mr Hill more than once in the right side of his stomach area, and that she had seen multiple stab wounds, but according to the coroner, Mr Hill suffered only one stab wound to the torso, and that was to the left side of his body.Mr Perry said that while this evidence contradicts the witness’ story, it supports the statements of two other witnesses who claimed they saw Ms Simmons reach around Mr Hill and stab his left side.“She stabbed the deceased. As a consequence of the stabbing, he bled, he fell, he tried to get up and he fell again,” Mr Perry said. “There is no evidence that there were any subsequent attacks with any weapons.”While Lewis could also be guilty of manslaughter if he aided or enabled the fatal attack, Mr Perry said that he could only be guilty of manslaughter if he knew that Ms Simmons had a knife and intended to use it to cause bodily harm.He said that the jury had asked the judge if they could find him guilty of manslaughter if they felt he didn’t land the fatal blow, but Mr Field said they shouldn’t try to guess at what the jury thought.“It could have meant just one or two members of the jury were considering that, not all of them,” he said.He said that the differing stories as to how Mr Hill was stabbed are not necessarily contradictory, pointing out a blood trail leading from where Lewis reportedly stabbed Mr Hill to where Ms Simmons was said to have stabbed him.While Mr Hill only suffered one stab wound, he suffered multiple abrasions on his left side, which Mr Field suggested could have been caused by someone stabbing or poking him with a screwdriver, like the one he said Ms Simmons used in the attack.“In no way does the crown accept that it must have been Zharrin doing the killing,” he said. “Quite the opposite. The crown say it was the appellate who carried out the killing.”He said that Lewis and a group of his friends had arrived together, were involved in the fight together, and left the area together, stressing the element of “joint enterprise” in the attack.The appeal is expected to continue today.