BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - A seven-man-five-woman jury on Thursday (Nov. 8) at the Nevis High Court convicted Alistair 'Jabal' Isaac of robbery and wounding with intent.
Isaac was charged with robbing Susan Woodham of EC$777, US$142, one Samsung cell phone and one Nokia cell phone, all to the value of $1,535.80. He was also charged with wounding her with a knife with the intention of doing grievous bodily harm.
The prosecution, led by Attorney Dennis Merchant, called two witnesses to give evidence on their behalf.
The victim, Woodham, testified that at about 6:45 on the evening of July 26, 2012, she was at her home in Spring Hill and observed it was getting dark and went to lock her bedroom doors when she was confronted by a man dressed in dark clothing.
Woodham told the court that the man also had a cloth over his head and swimming goggles covering his eyes.
The assailant also had a 12-inch chef’s knife in his hand and, upon observing this, the victim put both hands in the air and asked him what he wanted, to which he replied, "Where's the money?"
She said he raised the knife and slashed her left hand and again asked, "Where's the money?"
Woodham testified that she led the intruder into the kitchen where she had her bag, from which she took all the money she had and gave it to him.
She said the assailant took her mobile phones from her bag and asked, “Where is the rest of the money?" to which she replied, "I have no more money."
Woodham then testified that she offered her assailant a cigarette which he took and fled the scene.
She told the court that she took a carving knife, ran to her car bloodied from the wound and locked herself inside for a while before driving to Oualie Beach Resort, where her wound was dressed and she stayed there for the night.
Woodham said the matter was reported to the Cotton Ground Police Station.
At cross-examination, Woodham said she was able to identify her mobile phones that were retrieved from Isaac by the pictures of her grandchildren the Nokia contained and the names and numbers belonging to her in the Samsung, as well as the serial number on the phone which matched the box she still possess.
The investigating officer who was on duty at the time of the incident testified that he responded to a report of robbery and that the following day at about 6:10 a.m. a search warrant was executed on the premises of a Bath Village resident where Isaac was present.
The search warrant, the officer said, turned up two Nokia and two Samsung cellular phones, a yellow handkerchief, EC$1 175 and US$142.
The officer said Isaac was questioned about the find and said the monies along with one Nokia and one Samsung belonged to him.
After the prosecution rested its case, Isaac, who was unrepresented took the stand in a effort to prove his innocence.
The accused told the court that on the day in question he journeyed to Nevis on the Ferry and that he could remember it was the opening of Culturama. He said he jumped into an omnibus, paid the driver EC$5 and was transported to Bath Village where he stayed the entire night.
Isaac said he went to Bath Village to "check on" one of his cousins who had been shot and that he was nowhere near the home of Woodham when she was robbed.
He also told the court that on the following morning police officers came to the premises and executed a search and he showed the officers two cellular phones - a Nokia and a Samsung.
Isaac claimed the phones presented as evidence were not those which were confiscated when the search was carried out and that when he was questioned about the robbery, he told the officers he did not know where Spring Hill was.
The jury, after deliberation, brought back a unanimous guilty verdict on both counts.
