seven-year jail sentence for drug smuggling.

Sharon Tyrell, of St. George's, was convicted earlier this year of smuggling more than $102,000 worth of marijuana into Bermuda in a grey duffel bag earlier this year.

A court heard that a sniffer dog had discovered drugs in the bag and Tyrell, whose name was on the bag, was arrested after she picked it off the luggage carousel at the Airport.

A co-accused, Jacqueline Brangman, 51, was cleared of the same charges of smuggling marijuana with intent to supply.

The judges' decision to rise yesterday came one day after they put off a potentially contentious decision over whether the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court should surrender his notes on the trial.

Last week, the judges made the rare request for Chief Justice Mr. Justice Ward to do so after it was heard in the Court of Appeal that the manner in which the top jurist had taken notes during the trial might have infringed on Tyrell's legal rights.

Instead of recording their testimony as it was being given by witnesses on the stand, the Court of Appeal was told, the Chief Justice had apparently referred by page and paragraph in his notes to the statements -- at least two of which turned out to be inaccurate -- that witnesses had previously given to Police.

And though one of Tyrell's lawyers, Mr. Frank Phipps QC of Jamaica, had argued last week that Justice Wade's note-taking methods had deprived the appellant of her right to "have her case reviewed as it actually took place at the trial'', the Court of Appeal judges declined yesterday to make a ruling on the matter until a later date.

Tyrell's other lawyer, Mr. Phillip Perinchief, told The Royal Gazette : "They'd like to hear all of the grounds on which we're appealing before they decide on the notes.'' Following the decision to defer the ruling, Mr. Perinchief and Mr. Phipps have pressed on with the main thrust of their appeal, which is that the two defendants should have been jointly convicted or both acquitted.

Yesterday, Mr. Perinchief said Tyrell had only removed the bag from the luggage carousel at the Civil Air Terminal to check why her name was on it.

The court heard that she opened the bag when someone drew her attention to it, saw a blue jacket she insisted was not hers and closed it again.

Summing up the appeal case, Mr. Perinchief said: "If, on guilty knowledge, this defendant knew there were drugs in the bag, why touch it at all?'' And he added that Tyrell had been "singled out'' for conviction after "Crown counsel began to see that perhaps Ms Brangman was not someone to focus on.'' Mr. Perinchief also pointed out that the appellant's sentence was at the upper end of the scale.

In a similar case, the sentence had been restricted to only five years. But Crown counsel Khamisi Tokunbo said that five-year sentence had been given after the defendant pleaded guilty, adding: "In this case, the court did not have the benefit of a guilty plea.'' Appeals Court President Sir James Astwood, sitting with Mr. Justice DaCosta and Sir Derek Cons, reserved judgment.