Two cases ends in hung jury while one declared a mistrial
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - AS the May 2012 Criminal Assizes closed on July 19, ten cases where disposed of, six ending in guilty verdicts, one in a not guilty verdict, and three in guilty pleas; while two cases ended in a hung jury and another was declared a mistrial.
One of the most looked forward to cases was that of the Brimstone Hill Tourist robbery and that case ended in guilty pleas from the five men who were charged with the offences.
The men - Elroy ‘Stanny’ Williams, Delvin ‘Stobie’ Francis, Curtis Lon, Junior ‘Q’, and George ‘Naddy’ Welsh were indicted on four counts of robbery, one count of assault with intent to rob, one count of accessory before the fact and one count of conspiracy to rob, and had pleaded not guilty to the charges at a hearing during the 2012 January Assizes.
However, on June 6, Sobratie, Williams and Long each pleaded guilty to one count of robbery while Francis and Welsh both pleaded guilty to accessory before the fact and were given the maximum minus one-third for their guilty plea on July 19.
Four of the five men - Williams, Sobratie, Long, and Welsh - were therefore sentenced to 13 years and three months, while Francis was given six years and eight months.
A 12-member jury on May 9 unanimously found Kemron Murray of Stonefort Heights guilty of housebreaking and larceny; an offence he committed on April 29, 2011.
According to the facts of the case, Murray, sometime between 12:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. on the day in question, broke and entered the dwelling house of Mansfield James from which he stole a number of canned foods.
The items stolen were one corned beef, one salmon, one Vienna sausage, one baked beans, one tin of sliced carrots and one apple juice, all to the value of EC$50.
Murray was given a non-custodial sentence. He was set free with a warning that if he were to commit a felony within 12 months, he would be brought back before the Court and would be given a custodial sentence for this offence.
Dale Hazell was originally charged with one count of burglary, one count of larceny and one count of receiving.
He was said to have broken into a home in the Frigate Bay area on February 10, 2012, and stolen a black and silver Dell laptop, US$280 and EC$70.
He however pleaded guilty to the receiving charge at the opening of the May 2012 Criminal Assizes and had the other two charges dropped.
At his sentencing he was not given prison time but was instructed to pay a fine of EC$2 000 in the next six months.
He was cautioned that if he does not pay the fine by the time stipulated, he would serve two years in prison.
Xavier Elliott and Junior Stevens were found guilty on June 28 on one count each of robbery and three counts each of assault with intent to rob, all of which occurred on July 1, 2010.
On the first charge, the two were said to have stolen a number of items including a driver’s license, a cell phone and pendant all to the total value of EC$2 468.20 belonging to Errol Finch; while on the latter charges of assault and intent to rob, the offences were committed on Neresha Francis, Lorna Wilson and Kieb Armstrong.
They are currently awaiting sentencing which is expected to take place at the next Criminal Assizes.
Nigeria National Baba Tunde Dami Lola Alonge was, on June 13, found guilty on three counts of false pretence with intent to defraud, charges that were laid against him for offences that were committed on April 1 to 3, 2008.
Alonge had claimed, in his testimony that he was offered a part-time job by someone called Rodney Welsh who sent him a number of US Money Orders which he was instructed to cash and send to Satina Harris in Chicago.
The jury, who deliberated for over two hours, brought back 11-1 guilty verdicts on all three counts. He is currently awaiting sentencing which is expected to take place at the next Criminal Assizes.
Thirty-three-year-old, Denrick Jeffers of Sandy Point was on July 5, convicted by a 12-member jury of rape, an offence that was committed on April 17, 2011.
He was subsequently given a 10-year prison sentence on July 19.
A Dominican Republic national, Rafael Adames, was on July 3 unanimously found guilty of incest, an offence that was committed on August 27, 2010.
According to the evidence presented in Court, the 47-year-old had committed the offence on numerous occasions and had often told the girl that she is pretty and that she belonged to him only.
It was also revealed that Adames told the then 17-year-old girl that he would rent a house and put her to live in it because he wanted children from her and that she was not to say anything to anyone.
He is currently awaiting sentencing which is expected to take place at the next Criminal Assizes.
Another 33-year-old male, Evans Amory was on July 17 found guilty by a 12-member jury of two counts of indecent assault on a minor.
According to the facts brought out in Court, the convict, during the period January 1 to December 31, 2009 and on February 6, 2010, put peanut butter on his genitals and had the minor, his daughter, remove it with her mouth.
The child, at the time of the incidents was just seven years old and the incidents were said to have been committed in Basseterre.
He too is currently awaiting sentencing which is expected to take place at the next Criminal Assizes.
On the other hand, James Davis who was charged with indecent assault was found not guilty in May. The offence was said to have been committed on September 15, 2011.
The case of former Police Constable Kern Cabey ended on June 21 with a unanimous not guilty verdict for endangering life, but a 7-5 hung jury for enabling other people to endanger life.
Cabey was charged with the two counts for the January 14, 2010 shooting that took place at the RLB International Airport Fire Hall (AFH).
The 25-year-old was said to have borrowed a vehicle belonging to Constable Terry Regis and driven to AFH and fired two rounds of ammunition from his police issued glock pistol with intent to endanger life before breaking in to a holder where a rifle shotgun was stored.
He is currently awaiting retrial.
Also ending in a hung jury was the case of Esroy Mills who was charged with one count of shooting with intent and another for assault with intent to commit a felony.
The jury, after deliberation brought back a 9-3 and 8-4 respective verdict.
Mills is said to have shot at Bichara Isaac while he was in the vicinity of the Cayon Primary School and that on that same day he pointed a gun at Constable Glenroy Stanley with intent to commit a felony.
He too is currently awaiting retrial.
The case of Kelroy 'C-Face' Hazel and Jahari 'Baddie' Bart was declaired a mistrial partway through their trial.
SKNVibes was reliably informed that this mistrial was declared due to the revelation that one of the jurors sitting on the case was a relative of the accused brothers.
The brothers were jointly charged with the killing of Laustin Jamie 'Big Ship' Williams on the night of April 4, 2011 at Buckley's Estate.
At the time of the mistrial declaration, the prosecution had already called nine of the ten witnesses to give evidence on their behalf.
They are currently awaiting retrial.
The sitting of the next Criminal Assizes is expected to begin in September, 2012.
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