BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - FOUR men from Santo Domingo were freed by the Basseterre High Court this afternoon (Feb. 26) following the granting of no case submissions made by their attorneys.
The men were accused of attempting to steal a large quantity of materials valued at a half million dollars.
Angel Palmer, Ramon Benitezsaba, Juan Frederico Samiento and Arismandi Rivera appeared before His Lordship Justice Errol Thomas this afternoon and were told that, regarding their charges, the prosecution did not have a case against them.
The case began last Wednesday (Feb. 20) with counsel Garth Wilkin heading the prosecution while each accused had legal representation.
Palmer was represented by Anthony Johnson, Rivera by John Cato, Benitezsaba by Fitzroy Eddy and Samiento by Hesketh Benjamin.
The prosecution tried to prove that on December 14, 2011, the four accused attempted to steal a large quantity of copper wire, scrap metals, old transformers and batteries from Romeo Sylvester Tweed.
To support its case, the prosecution called two witnesses; Tweed, who testified that he visited his storage place at the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) Landfill on the said date to find a large quantity of his materials had been stolen, and Officer Richards, who testified that the men were at the scene and attempted to flee.
After the prosecution rested its case, the men's attorneys filed no case submissions which were argued yesterday afternoon (Feb. 25).
They argued that, among other things, the prosecution did not have a case against the men and has not produced any evidence to support their claim.
Justice Thomas, in his ruling today, agreed with the defence attorneys and stated that the prosecution "had no leg to stand on" and decided not to take the case any further.
The jury, which was absent during the submissions and ruling, upon returning to the Courtroom, was asked to deliver not guilty verdicts for the four men under the direction of the Court.
The freed men thanked their attorneys for their assistance before happily scurrying out of the Courtroom.
