The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON ljohnson@tribunemedia.net THE relative of a 30-year-old woman who was sexually assaulted and murdered on a Friday the 13th morning two years ago told the Supreme Court what transpired hours before the incident. In yesterday's proceedings, Patrina Rolle, a cousin of the victim Chrishonda Swain, gave evidence about the morning in question. The prosecution alleges that on Friday, August 13, 2010, 29-year-old Phillip McCartney killed Swain, whose body was found on a track road. Ms Rolle told Justice Bernard Turner and a 12-member jury that she, Swain and another cousin Lakeisha Lockhart, had gone to the Yardee Dance on Soldier Road, having caught a ride from the Four Quarters Sports bar in Pinewood Gardens with a male friend shortly before 2am. Ms Rolle said she and Ms Lockhart wanted to go home after nearly two hours at the sports bar, "however Chrishonda had said she wanted go somewhere else." She said when they got to the club, they had to wait to enter because police officers were breaking up a fight. "At first we went to the rest room," she said, adding that after that, "we stood 'lil ways off from the bar." Ms Rolle said that within "two to five minutes" the victim had spotted her boyfriend's friend, but the witness said she did not pay any attention to this person. After leaving the club "because it was smoky and dark inside", she said the three women began walking on soldier road, until a car pulled up next to them. They all eventually got in to the "two door, gray silverish Mirage" she said, because the cousins did not want Chrishonda to go by herself. Ms Rolle noted that the car's sound system and customised steering wheel - which bore a horn - stood out to her, along with the wave-like patterns in the dark tinted windows. When prosecutor Jillian Williams asked the witness if she knew the driver or could describe him, she said "No" "He had a baseball cap on. He had fair skin and no facial hair," she added. Ms Rolle said when she and Ms Lockhart were dropped off in Pinewood Gardens, the victim "looked fine". The next time she saw Swain, it was after her body had been discovered in Southern New Providence, the witness told the court. When cross-examined by defence attorney Ramona Farquharson-Seymour, the witness admitted persons were taking photos at the Yardee Dance and that her cousin had given the impression she did not want to be on camera. She said the victim was texting on her Motorola Razor cell phone throughout their time at the club. Mrs Farquharson-Seymour asked the witness if police investigators had asked for her cell number, but she said they had not. Regarding the car Ms Rolle described, the defence suggested she did not mention certain details to the police in her first statement on the day the incident took place. After reading the statement, she affirmed that the details were not there, but said she did give them to police. She denied the suggestion she and Lakeisha Lockhart met up to co-ordinate their descriptions of the car, but admitted Ms Lockhart had joined her at the Central Detective Unit, where she was invited to attend an identification parade. Asked if she picked out anyone, Ms Rolle replied, "I think I did." At this point, the defence asked to make submissions to the court in the absence of the jury. As a result of the discussions between Justice Turner, lead prosecutor Jillian Williams and Mrs Farquharson-Seymour, the trial was adjourned until next week Monday at 11am. The judge will to deliver his decision regarding yesterday's discussions in the hour before the trial resumes.