Defendant threatens complainant in open court
Western Bureau: A St James man created quite a scene at the Montego Bay courthouse this week when he threatened his alleged victim in open court and then resisted a police officer’s attempt to take him to the holding area after he was ordered back into custody.
From the moment the matter was called up, a barefooted Daniel Brown, who was clad in a pair of brown jeans with the legs rolled up and a pale green shirt, maintained that he was not guilty of the robbery charges he faced.
When presiding judge Valerie Stephens did not give him the opportunity to expound on his claim of innocence, Brown used his hand to make a throat slashing gesture to the complainant, Alvin Cunningham.
“I saw that! I saw that!” judge Valerie Stephens yelled at the accused.
“I saw you look directly at the man (Cunningham) and do this,” the judge continued, indicating the hand gesture Brown made.
She added that she would not consider offering bail and set the matter for mention on June 7.
“Your honour, mi a plead guilty to it ’cause mi want it done!” an obviously angry Brown responded.
Judge Stephens subsequently asked the police officer to remove him from the courtroom. However, as the defendant passed through the doors leading from the courtroom, all hell broke loose. He began bellowing at the top of his voice and refused to be taken to the holding area.
A number of police officers had to rush from the courthouse to assist the first officer, who later told the Observer that Brown had held on to the grille-work outside the courtroom.
Brown is accused of having held up Cunningham with a knife in the vicinity of the Tastee building along Barnett Street in the city on March 25.
He is alleged to have used the knife to cut the complainant’s right forearm and then cut, from his shoulder, a black travelling bag in which he had $30,000 and a number of other items. Brown then reportedly ran off with the bag, which was recovered along the Barnett River.
The police apprehended Brown on May 26 and Cunningham identified him as the man who had robbed him.
