Caines strategic skin swab boosts circumstantial evidence

By Pauline Waruguru
Nevis Reporter-SKNVibes.com

Corporal Joel Caines

In his address to the jury on Friday, November 14, Barbadian Attorney-at-law Sir Richard Cheltenham said Caines knew what was in the crime scene guidelines manual and had gotten his  protocols right.

Cheltenham told the jury that Caines was wearing aprons and gloves while gathering the evidence and he did not target the blood but the skin cells. “We are not dealing with omissions. In life you deal with the material you have…what you have is powerful,” said the lead Prosecutor.

Cheltenham was assisted during the trial by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Paulina Hendrickson, state counsels Reynold Benjamin and Rhoda Nisbett-Browne, while Justice Ianthea Leigertwood-Octave presided.

The lead Prosecutor told the jury that the DNA was derived from cells of Phillip’s hand and that he and his wife, Shermel, had not met for 100 days as they had nothing to do with each other after he [Phillip] had visited her residence and took away his personal belongings. 

“DNA does not tell lies. Only identical twins have similar DNA,” Cheltenham said. “He is more than a serial killer. There is powerful incriminating evidence. The DNA was not there before the murder. This is unlikely. Skin tissue washes out within two weeks. Nobody alive in the world has the characteristics of the DNA found in the skin tissue except Shermel. The law says you look at the DNA in the context of the other elements.”

Cheltenham further told the jury that Phillip was near the crime scene and his DNA had positively linked him to being there.

Another key element, Cheltenham said, was the female fingernail cuts on Phillip’s arms which were still bleeding when he was visited by the investigating officer. The lead Prosecutor told the jury to critically evaluate Phillip's movements, stating that he must have gone home to have a “clean up” but he did not clean up the nails where the DNA was found.   ~~Adz:Right~~

“The case is not about blood,” the Prosecutor said and noted that the combination of DNA on both hands showed the presence of Shermel’s profile.

Cheltenham told the jury that Shermel was known to be alive at 7:15 p.m., as Yvonne Glasgow had called her at 6:50 p.m. Aquila Rawlins and her mother, Malva Rawlins, who passed by Shermel’s gate on their way to a choir practice, had left their home at 7:12 pm. It took them five minutes to reach Shermel’s gate; therefore, he suggested that they arrived there between 7:17 p.m. and 7:20 p.m.

The lead Prosecutor told the jury to critically look at Aquila’s evidence which had not been challenged during the trial. He pointed out that Aquila had told the court that the dog that often barks was silent, the hazard lights of Shermel's car were flashing, the car's horn was blowing and the car was rocking,

Aquila also said that she heard a woman’s voice and as she walked on, she saw a red pick-up that belongs to Phillip. She also stated that she could clearly see the pick-up because there was ample light from Franklin Fyfield’s residence, which is a three-minute walk from the crime scene. 

“The assailant was known by the dogs. The dogs did not bark. Had it been a stranger, the dogs would have been ferocious,” the lead Prosecutor said. He told the Jury that 7:20 p.m. was critical as Aquila had heard a struggle. There was vigorous activity in Shermel’s car and a voice reflecting distress. He pointed out that something was going on and the car’s horn was blowing. The lead Prosecutor said nobody had challenged Aquila’s evidence.

Cheltenham noted that Phillip could not have accounted for his whereabouts between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. when interviewed by Caines. He was seen at Pump Road at 7:45 p.m. driving at 40 MPH and admitted to having stopped at the Water Department in his statement which was read in court. Cheltenham also told the jury that at 8:45 p.m., a taxi driver saw Phillip in Jessups where he lived and, according to Dr. Ravi Shankar’s evidence, treatment was administered to him at the Alexandra Hospital at 9.00 p.m.

The lead Prosecutor said 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. was the critical time. Cheltenhan noted that when asked by Caines where he was during that time, he said, “I cannot say, but it is as I discussed earlier.”

Cheltenham again reminded the jury that nobody had challenged Aquila’s statement when she said that she and her mother had passed by Shermel’s residence between 7:17 p.m. and 7:20 p.m.

“It is a small society but there must be justice…there was a brutal destruction of human life. Her tongue was out…there were huge lacerations on the neck…she was a loyal woman, generous and caring.  She shared her love,” he said.

“The killer intended to kill her and to do nothing less. It was not accidental! It was a deliberate attempt to end her life,” he added. He also told the jury that Shermel’s mother had confirmed that over the years, Phillip had abused her daughter and she was trying to leave him. “Women do not get married to break up unless in extreme conditions. He often beat her, would apologise and beat her again,” Sir Richard Cheltenham concluded.