By Nagra Plunkett, Staff Reporter
Residents of Canterbury in St. James are in a jubilant mood as they parade throughout the community after Orlando Williams (third right) was acquitted of gun charges. - Patrick Campbell/Freelance Photographer
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE SIX men, who were charged in connection with last October's gun battle between the security forces and gunmen in Canterbury, Montego Bay, St. James, were freed when they appeared in the Western Regional Gun Court yesterday.
Justice Patrick Brooks dismissed the charges of illegal possession of firearm, wounding with intent and shooting with intent brought against Terron Francis, Delano Taylor, Damion Nicholson, Oneil Cooper, Junior Jackson and Orlando Williams, all of Canterbury addresses.
The announcement of the acquittal resulted in a big celebration among relatives and friends of the accused who had gathered outside the Montego Bay courthouse.
The merriment continued through the town centre, down to the St. James Police Divisional Headquarters lock-up, where the men went to retrieve their belongings. They were incarcerated for seven months and 12 days. The case made out by Crown Counsel Christine Gillespie and her 25 witnesses 24 policemen and a Government analyst reportedly lacked substantial evidence on which to convict the six men.
"I am relieved with the verdict. The case had really consumed me and my time, especially in the past three weeks," said Francis' attorney, Dalton Reid.
He told The Gleaner that the not-guilty verdict was influenced by three factors that were argued by the team of defence lawyers.
"The identification of the men was weak. The identification parades held, the majority of which were informal, were not fair to the accused persons," Mr. Reid pointed out. "We challenged the integrity of the forensic evidence, primarily the swab tests for gunshot residue."
SWAB RESULTS
The attorney explained that the swab test results for three of the men found that their hands had elevated levels of gunshot residue. Two others' test results were negative while the sixth man was not swabbed.
"Interestingly two policemen said in their testimonies that they discharged their firearms during the incident, their hands were swabbed and sent for testing. But their results came back negative," he added.
Canterbury captured nationwide attention on the morning of October 15, 2003, when the violent stand-off held the community under siege for eight hours. The unrest ended with three policemen shot and injured and the fatal shooting of three alleged gunmen.
