Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall on February 3rd acquitted two men accused of attempting to murder a security guard during a 2016 robbery of the Electronics City store located in the Fogarty’s Building.
She found that there was insufficient evidence to convict the two.
Kevin France, a former murder and robbery accused, and Jason Howard were charged with the October 20, 2016 attempted murder of Quacy Joseph, a security guard.
Justice Morris-Ramlall found that the eye witness identification of Howard was too weak and while analyzing the alleged caution statement given by France the court considered “whether it would be fair to admit the statement given the circumstances under which it is alleged to have been made”.
In her findings as it relates to Howard the judge pointed out that there was no evidence that the virtual complainant (VC) provided a description of the perpetrator to the police and, if he did, what that description was.
“The evidence does not establish that the VC had a sufficient opportunity to observe the perpetrator and is insufficient to support any subsequent identification of the accused,” Jus-tice Morris-Ramlall said.
She pointed out as well that apart from the identification of the VC, there is no other evidence linking the accused to the commission of the offence for which he was indicted.
“Given my analysis of the evidence I rule that the case should be withdrawn from the jury, not because this court believes that the VC is lying but because the evidence even if taken to be honest has a base which is so slender that it is unreliable and therefore insufficient to found a conviction; and the fact that an honest witness may be mistaken on identification is a particular source of risk,” she said in her findings.
As it relates to France’s alleged caution statement the court found that though there is prima facie evidence of voluntariness which, in the absence of any objection to admissibility premised on such a basis, is sufficient to support admission into evidence it has to consider whether it would be fair to admit the statement given the circumstances under which it is alleged to have been made.
The judge pointed out among other things that France was confronted with the allegation almost four months after the date of the incident and the fact that he was arrested two days prior to the alleged utterance being made and “no evidence as to what transpired with him during the period of custody leading up to the time the utterance is said to have been made was given. Even basic evidence as to whether he had been provided with refreshments was lacking”.
Further, she pointed out that at the time of his arrest the allegation was put to him and he denied knowledge of it and there was no explanation for putting the allegation and caution to him again. Further, the court pointed out that there was no video recording or other independent verification that the statement was actually made. And even so the statement “itself is ambiguous regarding any knowledge of what transpired at the Fogarty’s Building”. There was also no other evidence establishing his guilt or tending to implicate him in the commission of the offence.
“In these circumstances, I am of the view that it would be grossly unfair to admit the oral statement into evidence and that this is a fitting case for the exercise of the Court’s exclusionary discretion. The statement is therefore excluded on the ground of unfairness. Given that the statement is the body and soul of the state’s case against the No. 2 accused, consequent upon its exclusion, there is no case for the No. 2 accused to answer,” the judge ruled.
Stabroek News had reported that Joseph was shot in his abdomen after he attempted to foil a robbery committed on a man who was relieved of $1.2 million in the Electronics City branch store in the Fogarty’s Building, on Water Street.
In August 2015 France, who was jointly charged with Randolph Marques with the April 24th 2014 murder of Patsan Trading salesman Bharrat Ramcharan, had the murder charge discharged against him at the preliminary inquiry stage. Magis-trate Judy Latchman however committed Marques for trial in the High Court.
