Trent Harrigan freed, found not guilty of 2015 attempted murder
After three years, Trent Harrigan walks from the High Court in Road Town a free man on Monday, October 8.
The man who police implicated in the harrowing attempted murder of Kani Hazel back in 2015 has been acquitted.
Trent Harrigan was freed on Monday after Justice Ann-Marie Smith withdrew the case from the jury and entered a verdict of not guilty.
The judge withdrew the case from the jury after defence attorneys Valerie Stephens Gordon and Stacy Abel successfully made a legal argument known as a ‘no case submission’. This argument effectively stated that there was no real evidence against their client.
During the trial, the Crown relied on evidence from police officers who claimed they used CCTV footage to positively identify Harrigan as the gunman who shot Hazel four times — twice in the head and another two times in the torso.
However, the footage was of such poor quality that only a silhouette of the shooter could be seen. Despite this fact, police officers testified that they identified Harrigan by his ‘walk’.
Notably, the cops who testified gave vastly contrasting accounts of what they believed to be Harrigan’s general deportment. His attorneys, therefore, moved for him (Harrigan) to be acquitted, given the conjectural evidence the Crown had presented to the court.
The court agreed and Harrigan was freed.
What the Crown had alleged
Prosecutors had alleged around 4:27 on the morning of June 7, 2015, police received reports of gunshots being fired in the vicinity of UP’s Cineplex, where Hazel was seen lying on the ground with blood ‘oozing’ from his head and upper torso.
An ambulance arrived at the scene around 4:55am, and Hazel was transported to Peebles Hospital.
CCTV footage from the area was later retrieved and reportedly showed the victim leaving The Basement Night Club in Road Town in the company of two other males when a man appeared and shot him at close range.
That’s when the prosecution first claimed that the shooter was identified as Trent Harrigan.
Based on the alleged evidence, police executed a search warrant at Harrigan’s home and arrested him.
During a subsequent interview with the cops, he reportedly denied involvement in the shooting, adding that he was at home ‘all night’.
When footage of the shooting was shown to Harrigan, he told police that he could not identify anyone in the video.
Trent Harrigan at court three years ago
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Who prosecuted this one!
If you hold an innocent man so long shouldn’t he be compensate on release?
They knew it was not this guy that did this but anything to get a conviction. Leave innocent people alone and stop messing with their lives.
God is good all the time.
Who knows how many times this has happened and the defendant had an incompetent lawyer who was unable to articulate his innocence…just sayin, all the time means all the time….
Naturally, and in most instances, our thoughts, emotions, feelings, beliefs, judgements and points of views reveal themselves, moment to unconcious moment, in and through the face.
Don’t let this distract you from the fact that in 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem… if no one else can help… and if you can find them… maybe you can hire… The A-Team.
The prosecution’s plan did not come together.
goin to the states for school really do change people.
this man never use to look like meth drug head..athletic muscular trent where he gone??
This young man went through a personal ordeal in the BVI before this case and turned to the wrong thing that affected his life.
It is apparent he is trying to stay on the right path and has great customer service at a local gas station.
Young man keep going strong.
He is a good person who had personal hardships and didn’t cope well. I hope he catches himself and returns to the Trent I once knew. Keep your head up. Now sue.
“sue sue sue”
This guy couldn’t even kill a fly….I knew he was innocent from day one
Simply put..The prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused attempted to murder the victim hence the reason why the Judge agreed with the Defence.
The police knows it wasn’t him. they knew who it was but choose to go after trent. Everybody hear either it was Trent and ___ “The fire man up east”
My Question is, If he was the trigger man and police went to his home to arrest him, Isn’t there a was to dust him if he used a weapon in 24 OR 48 hours? Just asking.
He was found not guilty, he was not found innocent. There is a difference
Presumption of innocence unless proven ‘guilty’.
Then who did the murder? No one interested in catching the murderer?
You know what is the most serious fact of these cases
Now the public think its unfear and the police is targeting young men. These case are a few of many who are lock up in balsum ghut that are innocent that our said society maninly the jurors have sent to prison and the cases had no evidence. The police in the BVI do not investigate they try to intimidate to get what they want and then fabricate what they are told that’s why cases like these the truth must be told. Thank God for the said Judge in those cases to not allow there fabrications over evidence. There are a lot of case that the appeal court send back to the high court last sitting to be retry for the main reasons of lack of evidence that the court allow and jurors sit and listen to that made no sense of convicting the individuals
Thank you JESUS. Patrick I am so happy for you. Trent go out there and have a great life
i left BVI a good while now and when my mom told me this news i was like nah son, “Not Trent”. i just happened to check bvi news today. Seeing this makes me super happy. Trent big up yuhself mi bredda.
Time to get back to you old self. when you came back from the states the first time you was maad brolic, looking super healthy. Things wasnt to good at home at the time but you kept it together. hope you can hit the reset button and get a fresh start.
It’s the same thing they do shaune.they sayshow that is photage from CCTV show he kill pathner across from onemart wholesale how you prove Aman kill someone alnost 3 blocks away from crime seen ,,,Shaun you next just get the right lawer
You need to learn how to articulate a sentence before making a comment… What is “lawer”? Learn to spell and write please!!!!! Stop embarrassing yourself….
Well well