Justice served! Defence attorneys happy for win
‘Justice served’ was the overwhelming cry from the attorneys that represented the three persons freed in the High Court today after being accused of the February 2018 murder of Trumayne ‘Passion’ Daway.
Valerie Stephens-Gordon — the attorney representing Maybelline Rodriguez — said the crown had no evidence to pin the murder on any of the defendants.
She said there were no eyewitnesses to identify any of the accused, no gun and no forensic evidence found.
“It was just made sensational in 2018 and perhaps because it was after the hurricane and whatever. But there was insufficient evidence. They need to do a proper investigation, especially in serious murder matters… These three young people have been locked up for four years. She (Rodriguez) had a baby in prison. Four years of their lives, they cannot get back,” Stephens-Gordon told BVI News.
Unreliable an insufficient evidence
One of the attorneys representing Rafael Harrigan, Queen’s Counsel Michael Lashley, said the evidence brought by the prosecution was unreliable and insufficient. He noted that a lot of hard work went into the case and he supported the judge’s decision in the matter.
“When we look at the evidence it was extremely weak. We did a lot of preparation, and this is my first case in the BVI as Queen’s Counsel and I am satisfied with the ruling,” Lashley said.
Michael Maduro, who helped to mount Harrigan’s defence along with Lashley and Isis Potter, indicated he was pleased his client was vindicated of the charges. Maduro said his team always believed in Harrigan’s defence as he had indicated he was not guilty from day one.
“We are thankful for the judgement of the court. We recognised that it is not an easy decision for any court to make in upholding a no-case submission but the court after considering the evidence in relation to the matter felt that there is not a case to be answered being guided by legal principles and the law,” Maduro said.
Silk Legal believed in client’s innocence
Meanwhile, the representative for Vernon Bernard, Richard Rowe, said from the first meeting, the accused insisted he was innocent and now the verdict has confirmed that belief.
“We at Silk Legal believed in his innocence and the lack of evidence brought by the court substantiates the decision of the judge to withdraw it from the jury and there was certainly insufficient evidence,” Rowe said.
Public opinion factored in case preparation
Stephens-Gordon told our news centre that the defence had to consider public opinion when preparing for the case.
“That was a factor because back in 2018, they made a judgement on these three young people. Through the blogs and the media headlines, they had already prejudged them. So, it made it very, very difficult because of the prejudgement and this is why I stated they [the police] need to do a proper investigation. It was a rushed investigation,” Stephens-Gordon said.
Maduro also noted that sometimes the public is not privy to all the facts of the case and most conclusions are formed from speculation. He said some things the public considers evidence are not of evidential value within the legal system.
WhatsApp messages proved nothing
A major part of the Crown’s case was the WhatsApp messages between Bernard and Harrigan which were alleged to have revealed the murder plot. However, Stephens-Gordon said all the messages revealed was that the discussion between the two was in relation to another individual, Black Boy, who Rowe pointed out in court today.
“They jumped in their investigations in either thinking Black Boy was deceased. The messages were some days prior, several days prior to the murder. The deceased was Passion, the messages related to Black Boy, and it did not plan a murder,” Stephens-Gordon said.
Meanwhile, Michael Maduro said in the judgement, that the court recognised that the evidence found in the WhatsApp chat was tenuous.
“The court said you could not tell from the videotape itself whether or not it (the gun) was on the couch in his apartment and also to the tiles and so on. These are things based on the video that you could not recognise the fabric of the couch, the qualities of the tile and so on. It was a far stretch by the Crown in terms of their case,” Maduro said.
He added that the judge’s decision showed the messages were not incriminating to the level necessary to say the plan was for murder.
The defence counsel also expressed their gratitude towards the Crown represented by Kellei-Gaye Smith and Kristian Johnson. They also expressed gratitude towards the judge, Justice Richard Floyd and the court staff for their conduct throughout the trial.
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The Useless AG office they Just their to collect salary and doing nothing. Not even half Capable to represent the BVI against the COI. Costing us millions…The AG office was suppose to peruse the evidence carefully making sure the evidence is convincing and without doubt..Have the Police working avoid short cuts and assumptions….Just a bunch a failures.. if a person commit a crime the evidence still need to be real and presented convincingly..
they love to go after easy cases but difficult cases like these they cannot handle it.
FYI…the AG’s office does not prosecute criminal matters. The DPP’s office does that!!!
Thank you! I was just here thinking what the hell “I blame the AG office…” talking about along with his/her 17 likes. Must be Willock ..LOL
What goes around will come back around. Don’t worry enjoy your freedom … God knows best..
The AG office has nothing to do with that, it’s the DPP OFFICE.
Is they DPP is useless then? Need to get people who know what they doing. That and the police too.
Not justice!! Injustice. I really hope they get their just karma.
Ummm. did you mean the DPP? The AG was not involved in the matter.
Blame the RVIP CSI
Royal Virgin Island Police Force Crime Seen inspection need a whole new team! Shameful of them!
Set of waste man with qualification but lack of important of knowledge doing their duty as crime inspectors… BVI RVIPF need to up their level!!!
Let me put you on some game – CSI did their thing and so did the defense attorneys! Karma is the oldest O.G.; NEVER FORGET THAT!
I hope Madam DPP doesn’t look to try and waste the public funds to try and appeal this one as well. The investigative teams need to take their time and do their investigations instead of wasting time bringing these weak cases.
You lost again! Get over it!!
Lawyers have no MORALS!
None
Why do you say they have no morals? It is people like that have no morals, because as long as YOU think someone is guilty YOU think they should not be represented.
Right, but they defend *** knowing that they are *** and have the audacity to say Justice was served! A life lost, a family grieving, yet Justice was served! No MORALS!
Who say they guilty? You who ain’t see the evidence?
Last time I checked unless we live in a dictatorship country of some sort – everyone is innocent until proven guidilty. So even the guilty are entitled to a defense. Criminal Lawyers whether you like them or not just have to do their jobs. It’s more about the interpretation of the law for them not if their client is guilty.
I said what I said! They be defending knowing their client is guilty. Point, Blank, Period!
I hope the s**t does not fall on their doorstep(s).
lets just hope justice was truly served. too many people worldwide falsely convicted
… A life was taken…
It seems the killers are still at large to kill again?
It might seem harsh but the reality is they are not saying they did not do it; just that it was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that they did. Prayers for the families.
The article clearly says that all the defendants claimed to be not guilty. That is confirmed by their lawyers. It may be that they are not being truthful but in circumstances where the judge found that the case was so weak that the defense was not even called upon to answer, that says something. We may never know the truth but the justice system works on evidence, not rumors and speculation.
They have to live with whatever conscience that they have. God don’t sleep!
Not to worry: Karma will deal with this: it always does- and the lawyers who believe they are GODS will also face the wrath of KARMA
Time will deal with the case….
Why hate on the lawyers? They have a job to do like everyone else.
The lawyers did nothing but their job.. well done at that.
Saying that they did a good job is not the same thing as saying that the criminals are not criminals and that the criminals wouldn’t serve other consequences. That’s for the criminals to deal with between God and their own conscience. BUT EVERYONE DESERVES THE RIGHT TO BE REPRESENTED FIERCELY IN COURT. It’s just a job for the lawyers. Please let’s be civilized and not hold it against them.
So how she manage to have a whole baby in prison if she was locked up for four years? Enquiring minds want to know. What a thing to tell the King smh.
You all quick to come on social media to run your trap!! The young lady was pregnant when she got locked up. So obviously she will get the baby in prison. This does not mean mean she was having —— in prison. This place is full of hot a** mess noisy people.
It is obvious that our prison is not a real prison. They can smoke, drink, have sex, babies and whatever else they wish up there. It is pretty shameful but it is clear that the powers that be wish not to have such matters addressed. They are more concerned about being friends with the inmates and making them as happy as possible on taxpayers’ expense. The law enforcement arm of government is sickeningly inefficient.
A whole baby you say. I’m screaming .While lawyers working on her case she working out her waist.
Not guilty dont mean these guys didn’t kill that man. That’s why people break the laws and get their own guns for protection because the police are a joke. The system is a joke. Murderers walking the streets and stay strapped and we innocent civilians must rely on these clowns to protect us.
Omg! Here we go again, another big case lost by our incompetent DPP team, and sad to say, there’s plenty more loses in the making. And to couple with those loses, look out for the lawsuite to follow. The Government are going to be paying hefty monies to out of court settlement or outright loses at the court like today. This need to be address and soon too
Not enough evidence for any court does NOT mean they are innocent [or guilty] or not involved in the murder.
The D** must go
Another set of *** gone free..what why did the magistrate block the police from investigating the convict cell phone and all his call..what happened to the photo in his phone that shows the AK 47 …. .
D** needs to be sacked.
Silk Legal did their job well. Big up Richard!
Public Prosecutions (DPP) Tiffany R. Scatliffe-Esprit told members of the Standing Finance Committee (SFC) last month, December 2021, when they examined the estimate for the 2022 Budget, that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was the “sole authority on the prosecution of all criminal matters private or public.”
She stated that “only the DPP could commence, take over or discontinue criminal prosecutions.”
While testifying before the SFC last year, Scatliffe-Esprit made it clear that her Department is a constitutionally independent body and is not subject to any other person or authority. She stated; however, that it did not mean that it was independent of the Ministry of Finance or the Department of Human Resources, and had to liaise with them with regards “to staffing and financial matters”.
The first Virgin Islander to hold the post of DPP noted that she further clarified that bail, Legal Aid/Public Defenders, Administration of the Courts (sentencing decisions, decisions made by the Courts) matters of parole, and issuance of Firearm Licenses were not in her purview. In addition, the DPP corrected some common misconceptions about the department. DPP Scatliffe-Esprit said her office is not a part of the Attorney General’s Chambers; not a Government Office, but a law firm that is a part of Government.
‘Only I can Prosecute’- DPP
She further stated that “no person or authority can tell the DPP who to prosecute, what to prosecute, or what to discontinue; the decision of the DPP in whether a matter is prosecuted and how it is prosecuted is final and not subject to review or appeal”.
Mrs Scatliffe-Esprit noted too that her office is not an investigative body, it is a “prosecutorial body and will only commence criminal proceedings upon receipt of a case file from a law enforcement agency, and there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public’s interest,” according to the SFC report released to the public by the House of Assembly.
And so they continue to build us up. They and or their spawns.