BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - TWO witnesses have testified that they saw the juvenile, who is accused of murdering Jermaine Browne on the morning of April 19, 2012, moving away from the scene of the crime.
In her testimony on Tuesday (Feb. 26), Officer Cotton, one of the said witnesses, said that she was at the National Housing Corporation (NHC) on the morning in question taking a statement from someone when she heard what sounded like gunshots coming from the East Park Range direction.
Cotton told the Court that she “secured” herself first and, after a few seconds, went over to the compound's wall fence on Park Street to see what happened.
The witness said before she arrived at the fence, she saw someone but did not see the person upon reaching said fence.
Describing who and what she saw, Officer Cotton said the person was wearing a short sleeved elbow length shirt, was "crouching" and heading towards Wellington Road.
The witness also told the Court that the person she saw did not wear a mask or 'hoodie'.
She further testified that she then called 911 and went to East Park Range to see what happened and discovered the body of a male lying face down on the ground with what appeared to be blood coming from under his body.
Cotton said he was lying almost in the middle of the road north of the NHC building and, upon closer inspection, she noticed what looked like a gunshot wound at his temple.
At cross examination, Officer Cotton said the individual resembled the juvenile "from the side" and that the person was on the south side of Park Street.
It was revealed that the officer did not know who the juvenile was before that day and that there was also a possibility that it could not have been him.
Trevor Browne, another witness in the case, also said he saw the juvenile moving away from the scene.
He said on the morning of the incident, he was standing on the northeast corner of the NHC building on Wellington Road when he heard what sounded like four gunshots coming from the East Park Range area.
He said he waited a few seconds and then took eight to 10 steps north and looked around the corner on Park Street to see what happened.
"I saw the accused running towards me in a black Dickies-type short sleeve shirt, knee length pants holding it up with his left hand and a black and brown gun in his right hand, barefoot," the witness to told the Court.
Browne also testified that the accused had no mask on his face, no 'hoodie' over his head or no cap on..."nothing of the sort".
He said the accused turned up a road that leads into New Pond Site and, as he turned, he heard a car engine "rev up", heard a car door slam and a vehicle sped off.
Browne said he then waited five to 10 seconds before proceeding across to East Park Range and when he turned north on that road, he saw a young man lying face down on the road with what appeared to be two gunshot wounds to his head.
He said as he was about to check for a pulse, he was stopped by someone who told him "don't do that".
Browne said four to five men from the Strike Force came to the scene with whom he spoke and then left with them to search the area for the shooter, but did not find him. After the search, he said he was taken to the police station to give a statement.
The witness said when he first saw the accused, he was about 80 feet away but did not recognise the person until they were 40 feett away from him.
He said he knew the juvenile from seeing him once before in the Newtown area on a verandah when he went there looking for someone by the name of Eric Thompson.
Browne said he saw the accused and asked him where Thompson was and was told he was "on lockdown" at Her Majesty's Prison.
He also told the Court that the next time he saw the juvenile was in the parking lot of the Basseterre Police Station at about 10:30 on the morning of April 19, 2012 wearing a white T-shirt.
The witness said he was at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) office when he saw the juvenile in the parking lot.
At cross examination, the witness was asked how many weeks prior to incident did he see the juvenile, to which he replied three to four weeks.
It was put to him that he was "straining the truth", but he responded in the negative.
Browne said he was at the police station from about 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on the day of the incident and that he was at the CID office the entire time.
When asked, Browne said he could not recall what time he was taken to the station or what time he gave his statement.
It was also put to him that he did not see the accused in the police station's parking lot, to which he replied that he did
Browne was asked by the jury if the individual he saw running and holding his pants were the same juvenile he spoke to in Newtown, and his response was that he did not realise it was him at the time.
Also testifying were Dr. Steven Jones who gave evidence as to Jermaine Browne's cause of death, Dr. Mervin Laws who spoke to the time he died, and also the investigating officers, after which the prosecution rested its case.
Immediately after the prosecution rested its, defence counsel Attorney-at-Law Chesley Hamilton called the juvenile to take the stand. He was the only person to testify on his behalf.
Before the Court's adjournment, the Acting Director of Public Prosecution requested a "Locus in quo", which is a visit to the crime scene by the Court on Monday (Mar. 4).
This was granted by His Lordship Justice Errol Thomas as it is believed that it would give the jury a clearer picture of what occurred on the day of the incident, as well as iron out any quarries regarding the roads and their names, etc.
Following this procedure, counsel on both sides would present their closing arguments.
