Lone murder case being tried
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - A man and a woman who were on trial for rape and indecent assault walked out of the Nevis Circuit Court last Thursday (Apr. 19) free, as they were exonerated of the charges laid against them.
Carlos Robinson of Cayon, St. Kitts and Tamisha Bartlette of Craddock Road, Nevis were charged with the sexual offences which were said to have occurred on June 21, 2012.
They were accused of holding down a female in the restroom of the Nevis Valu Mart branch, where all three of them worked.
The Court was told that Bartlette, while sitting atop the counter next to a face basin, held the victim between her legs and fondled her while Robinson raped her.
Robinson was represented by Attorney-at-Law Chesley Hamilton while Bartlette was self-represented.
The case, which began last Wednesday (Apr. 17), was prosecuted by Rhonda Nisbett-Brown who called some six witnesses to give evidence on behalf of the State.
Robinson and Bartlette, after the prosecution rested its case, did not testify or call witnesses to give evidence on their behalf.
After deliberation, the 12-member jury brought back unanimous not guilty verdicts on both counts.
In other Court news, Warren Browne of Rawlins, Gingerland, Nevis was given two three-year sentences with hard labour last Thursday, following his conviction of attempted unlawful carnal knowledge and house breaking and larceny.
The offences were committed on May 26, 2012 and both sentences are to run concurrently.
Meanwhile, murder-accused Delvin Wilkinson is currently on trial for the November 2, 2010 killing of his girlfriend and mother of his child, 19-year-old Chantelica Thompson.
Thompson's body was found lying in a pool of blood at her Pond Hill home which she shared with Wilkinson and their two-year-old daughter.
An autopsy performed on the body revealed that death was due to haemorrhage and shock as a result of stab wounds to the chest and head.
Wilkinson, who claimed he found his girlfriend dead, was arrested and charged with murder on November 5, 2010.
The prosecution is expected to call 13 witnesses to give evidence on their behalf.
