MONTEGO BAY, St James — A murder accused who has been described as being under the influence of alcohol and drugs at the time he allegedly committed the crime will go before the Circuit Court for trial on September 16.

During Wednesday’s hearing to determine whether or not Daniel Jones has a case to answer, defence attorney Chumu Paris argued that his client did not discharge the firearm. However, presiding judge Natiesha Fairclough-Hylton ruled that Jones should face trial.

Jones is charged with the murder of 24-year-old Shacqkim “Teeno” Lindsay of Shanty Town, Paradise Norwood, in St James. However, his lawyer told the court the fatal shot was fired by another man.

“The gun was taken from one of the assailants who was in pursuit of a robbery. The accused had been drinking rum all night, two victims were robbed of cellphones when shots were fired and Jones ran… At the time of the incident, he did not encourage the commission of the murder,” Paris argued.

The clerk of court had a strong rebuttal.

“This accused was not armed with a weapon, but if you read the question-and-answer statement you would have seen that this accused spoke to the fact that they [Jones, Tippy, and a man name Jay] were in the gully drinking rum and using ecstasy and molly. He said he gave the gun to the mad man, and the man brought it up to a section up there… All three of them went up there; the intention was to rob, and the gun was always present,” she said.

“I will submit that this statement is an exculpatory statement and the Crown has a duty at the appropriate time to admit it into evidence. In these circumstances, the Crown is relying on joint enterprise common design… He robbed the man of his phone. He took a wallet from this other young man, who appears to be about 16… The gun came into play and that was when Tippy fired the shot,” the clerk added.

The clerk maintained that Jones supported and encouraged the offence and suggested that the case should be transferred to the St James Circuit Court.

In her remarks, presiding judge Kaysha Grant-Pryce stated that it is clear from the statement that robbery with aggravation was on the mind of the defendant.

“He came there high on rum, molly and ecstasy, which a jury might find to be Dutch courage to carry out a robbery later that morning. He went home with the gun, gave it to someone else, and then decided to speak with the police,” Grant-Pryce said.

The judge noted that she lacks the authority to prevent the case from proceeding to the Supreme Court. She explained that the matter at hand falls under the jurisdiction of a jury trial.

She then ruled that the matter be committed to the Circuit Court for trial on September 16. Jones was remanded in custody until then.

According to the police, Lindsay was killed in the vicinity of the gully bus stop in St James about 4:00 am on January 5.

Residents reportedly heard explosions and alerted the police.

When the cops arrived Lindsay was seen lying on his back with gunshot wounds to his upper body.

He was transported to hospital where he died on arrival.

According to court records, Jones was apprehended in Rose Heights two weeks later; he was among one of three men spotted on a roof. The police were alerted and a chase ensued. Jones ran and brandished a gun that had fallen from his pocket. The police recognised him as a person of interest in a murder that occurred near the gully bus stop. He then volunteered to tell the police what transpired.