BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TOMORROW (Feb. 12), eight women and four men are expected to decide on the innocence or guilt of Sheldon Cannonier who is currently standing trial for shooting an officer of the law.
According to an indictment filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Cannonier, who goes by the alias ‘Sword’, is accused of “having a firearm with intent to endanger life”, “wounding with intent” and “unlawful wounding”.
The offences took place on February 24, 2007 at Taylors Housing Project against former Fire Officer Glen Thomas.
Thomas, the first witness in the case, told the court that at about 12:30 on that morning he was at his girlfriend’s mother’s home when odd goings-on were observed.
The virtual complainant (VC) explained that he was at the house waiting for his girlfriend, Mandisa Dore, to return from work before he would have proceeded to the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport Fire Hall where he worked. He said his observations at that point dissuaded him from doing so.
The VC said that when he got to the outside of the house “I observed two men at the bottom of the road. I only recognised one which was Mr. Cannonier, the accused. They were at the bottom of the road right next to AVEC...I was able to see them because the light from the lamp post was shining. Nothing was obstructing my view. I observed them for about 10 seconds”.
Thomas said he went back into the house and called his girlfriend’s mother, Faye Toussaint, and spoke to her. He noted that she too left the house and observed the two men at the bottom of the road.
“Mr. Cannonier was wearing a dark shirt, a dark head tie and dark jeans. The other gentleman [whom he was unable to identify] had on a dark hoodie and dark jeans. Fay came back inside and we spoke for a bit. We went to look again...the two of them had disappeared,” Thomas said.
Thomas said that after spending some time in the front room of the house, he and his girlfriend went to one of the bedrooms while Toussaint went to her bedroom. While there, he continued, they had a conversation which was interrupted by the opening of the bedroom’s window.
“Me and Mandisa started a conversation. While speaking, I saw the window open and I heard a tapping. When I looked, I saw a clear complexion hand with a chrome handle gun. I turned to the window...then I heard an explosion. The first one caught (shot) caught me in the right thigh. The second explosion hit me in the right buttock. I then fell on the bed and tried to hold down Mandisa. This is when I received the third gunshot wound in the right side.”
Thomas elucidated to the court that his girlfriend ran to her mother’s bedroom screaming, and as he got up, “...the louvers opened and that is when I observed Mr. Cannonier looking through the window. I spotted him for about five seconds then the windows were closed...Mr. Cannonier closed the window. I started screaming for them to call 911.”
Thomas explained that the ambulance arrived about an hour and a half later and took him to the Joseph N. France General Hospital where he received treatment.
Speaking specifically about the injuries he sustained as a result of the incident, Thomas noted that the bullet which struck him in his thigh travelled upward and lodged itself in the hip area close to the joint. He said the bullet which struck him in the right buttock had travelled through to the left buttock and was surgically removed. He further explained that the third bullet was lodged about an inch from a vertebra. The first and third bullets, as the VC explained, have not been removed.
Under cross-examination, Thomas said he had never been involved in any altercation or quarrel with the accused. He however told the court that he was threatened numerously and had reason to report the threats to the police. A question asked of him by the jury revealed that the threats were made by a cousin of the accused.
General Surgeon, Dr. Lawrence Rawlins who attended to Thomas’ injuries, testified that the bullets lodged in his body were not removed because (1) they posed or caused no neurological or vascular problems and (2) removing them would cause more damage than was caused when the bullets entered.
The case continues tomorrow (Feb. 12) with the final witness, Sergeant James Sutton, being cross-examined by Cannonier’s defence counsel John Cato.
