By Cherisse Sutton
Reporter: SKNVibes.com
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| Leroy Brown on his way back to Prison until the May assizes. |
(Basseterre; St. Kitts): There was a hung jury in the case of Leroy Brown, charged with shop-breaking and larceny committed on Jan. 25, 2006 at Stapleton Village, St. Peters.
The case that had been tried on January 18th had the jury deliberating until 9 p.m. that evening, at the Basseterre High Court.
Brown was then ordered by His Lordship Justice Francis Belle to continue his remand until the next assizes in May 2007.
The prosecution which was led by the Director of Public Prosecution Paulina Hendrickson alleged that the accused broke into the shop of Asimette Anthony of Stapleton Village on Jan. 26 between the hours of 4 a.m. and 5 a.m.
Anthony testified in court and said that at about 8:45 p.m. the day before the incident that she secured the three doors and three windows in her shop. She said that they were locked with tower bolts and the main door with a big pad lock. ~~adz:right~~
She added that on the day in question at around 6 a.m. she heard a voice outside her home. She said that she looked outside and the person informed her that her shop had been broken into. She then went down to the shop where she met two police officers.
Anthony said she proceeded to open the locks on the door which had been tampered with and upon entering the shop she realized that some coins, cigarettes, lighters and phone cards were missing.
Other witnesses including two police officers testified to seeing a man coming out of the shop with a crocus bag containing items and some coins in a Hi-C juice box. Some of the coins fell out in a scuffle with one of the officers who tried to apprehend him, but he got away.
Brown sat in the prisoners' dock quietly, with no lawyer to represent him, and when given the opportunity to question the witnesses he refused to do so.
Although one of the police officers testified to seeing the face of the accused, the other four witnesses said they did not see Brown's face and did not know him from seeing him in the prisoners' dock in the court room.
At the end of the trial Brown was given the opportunity to comment on what the witnesses said.
"Six people came to give evidence, two said they see me in a black hood and two say they see me in a blue hood," he said. "Six a dem and none say they see me except de lying police man."
~~adz:Left~~He continued: "Deuteronomy 19 verse 15 says, it takes more than one to solve a matter and there was only one evidence talking against me".
