Criminal Assizes closes

By Terresa McCall
Reporter-SKNVibes.com

~~Adz:Right~~ BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE May 2008 Criminal Assizes closed earlier today with the disposal of approximately 60 percent of the 37 cases scheduled to be heard and the remainder traversed to the September 2008 Criminal Assizes.

Of the 37 cases listed for hearing, 18 were traversed from the January 2008 Criminal Assizes while the remaining 19 were “new cases”.  Ten or 55.55 percent of the traversed cases were disposed of while 63.2 percent of the new cases were also disposed.

The cases disposed include that of Sheldon ‘Hatcher’ Isaac, Romeo ‘Buncum’ Cannonier, Ruedeney ‘Denny’ Williams and Louis ‘Tooloo’ Gardner, who were jointly charged with the murder of Gavin ‘Magilla’ Gilbert, and also that of Lumumba Matthew and Justin Bass, who were jointly charged with the murder of Darren Berry and the attempted murder of his brother, Dion Berry.

Other cases disposed of include that of Jonel Merritt, who was charged with “wounding with intent”; Evron Williams and Joseph Charles, who were charged with “robbery”; Shawn Phillip, who was charged with “shooting with intent”; Trevor Hector, who was charged with “house breaking and larceny”; and Juan Fyfield charged with “wounding with intent”.

Of the disposed cases, 19 went to trial, 17 of which ended in guilty verdicts, one not guilty and the other resulted in a hung jury.

Traversed cases include six murders, “having a firearm in possession with intent to endanger life”, “robbery”, “shooting with intent”, “house breaking and larceny” and “wounding with intent”.

Director of Public Prosecution Paulina Hendrickson, in a brief interview with SKNVibes, said the assizes was “successful” and noted while there were minor glitches that could have proven detrimental, things went smoothly. “There were no major setbacks,” she added.

The next criminal assizes to be held in St. Kitts is the September 2008 Criminal Assizes scheduled to begin late in that month.