Sykes to rule in UChence Wilson case next week
CHIEF Justice Bryan Sykes is expected to rule on the no-case submissions made for the remaining 21 alleged members of the Uchence Wilson Gang when the trial resumes in the Supreme Court next Monday.
The Crown will also know whether or not their submissions have been accepted by the judge.
The trial, which has been ongoing since March, adjourned yesterday after the Crown made its final submission in response to those that have been made by the defence.
The Crown has asked the judge to, among other things, find that accused Michael Lamont had participated in the robbery of a family in St Ann and had stolen a cellphone from a woman, which he had used and which was found in his possession.
The Crown also asked the judge to find that Fitzroy Scott was the same person who went by an ‘S’ name which appeared in more than one text message to other members of the gang, and was also the same person who had answered a phone call from a police officer and identified himself using the same ‘S’ name, and that accused Tashina Baker was the same person who was referred to as ‘Tash’ in a message from Scott, who is her boyfriend.
Also, the Crown wants the judge to find that accused Derron Taylor went by the name Devin.
The defence attorneys, meanwhile, have essentially asked the judge to find that the prosecution did not present sufficient evidence to prove the charges against their respective clients, especially any evidence to prove that they were in fact members of a gang.
They have also argued that the evidence presented was tenuous and that there was no corroborating or circumstantial evidence on which to convict their clients.
Some also argued that the electronic evidence presented by the Crown did not prove the charges against their clients and did not take the Crown’s case any further.
In the meantime, one of the lead prosecutors in the case yesterday informed the court that she had misspoken when she said that the Crown had conceded and would be withdrawing count 14 — facilitating serious offence by a criminal organisation – to wit, robbery with aggravation.
She said she erred when she stated that the accused — Scott, Lamont, Taylor, Tevin Khani, Stephenson Bennett and Machel Goulbourne would no longer be asked to answer to that count.
Instead, she said the evidence was not strong enough to make the case against all of them, but said it was sufficient to make the charge against Khani and Taylor and as such, indicated that the Crown will be pursuing those charges.
The charge, she explained, stemmed from an alleged incident in Bamboo, St Ann, where it is alleged that the men went to rob a couple, and when their demands for money were not immediately met, they tied up the wife and beat her in front of her husband, forcing him to give up the funds.
According to the prosecutor, Witness Two testified that he had seen the woman bleeding by the side of the road, and Bennett told him that he had used a chopper to beat her before passing her on the others for them to tie her up. He also said that he had driven off quickly, leaving Khani behind.
Wilson and 21 co-accused, which include alleged deputy leader Fitzroy Scott, three females inclusive of Wilson’s companion Shantol Gordon, and two former employees of a pawn shop in Kingston, are being tried for various offences under the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisations) Act, commonly referred to as the Anti-Gang Legislation, and the Firearms Act.
Three individuals, Judith Johnson, Shadday Beckford and Junior Rose, who were also charged and were on trial, were recently freed after the Crown indicated that it did not have enough evidence to prove its case again them.