BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AFTER more than three hours of deliberations, a nine-woman/three-man jury was unable to either convict or free Chadin Buchanan of a robbery offence.
Yesterday afternoon (Sept. 30) at about 1:30, the 12-member jury retired to discuss all the evidence tabled during the hearing and decide on Buchanan’s fate.
For the duration of the trial, the prosecution endeavoured to prove that on February 26, 2007, Buchanan, while at the Circus, robbed Karen Tyson, an employee of Delisle Walwyn and Company Ltd., of EC$14,219.50 with the use of a gun. That sum is said to be the property of her employer.
Defence attorney Jason Hamilton, managed to highlight a number of flaws in the prosecution’s case including gross inadequacies in the way in which the investigator, Corporal Carl Greaux, made inquiries into the incident. He also suggested that a Defence Force Warrant Officer - who told the court that he had interactions after the offence was committed – acted inappropriately when he took it upon himself to conduct investigations into the incident rather than contacting the police at the earliest opportunity.
Shortly before 5:00 p.m., the jury returned and informed the court that it was divided 9-3 with no prospect of reaching a majority (10-2 or 11-1) or unanimous verdict.
Trial judge, His Lordship, Justice Francis Belle told Buchanan that in light of the jury’s inability to arrive at a verdict to either convict or free him, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Paulina Hendrickson, would have to decide what course of action she would take.
His bail was extended until January 2010, which is when the January 2010 Criminal Assizes is expected to begin.
