The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THREE men accused of the double murder and armed robbery of a Deadman's Reef couple are expected to learn their fate soon after Justice Estelle Gray Evans wraps up her summation of the case at 10am today and turns it over to the jurors.

Justice Evans began summing up the case around 10.42am but was unable to complete it because of the vast amount of evidence presented during the eight month-long trial.

The trial opened last October. The prosecution called 26 witnesses to give evidence and three witnesses were called by the defense.

Defendants Paul Belizaire, Devaughn Hall, and Kevin Dames are charged with two counts of murder and one count of armed robbery. They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges.

It is alleged that four masked armed men shot and killed Barry and Sheena Johnson at their residence in Deadman's Reef on September 12, 2015. A set of keys and a GMC truck belonging to the couple were also stolen.

The case was prolonged as a result of several adjournments.

Before proceeding, Justice Evans addressed the forewoman about the absence of juror number nine who was replaced by one of four alternates.

"One of your number is missing?" she asked. The forewoman explained that the juror was away and was unable to return for the rest of the month.

Defence counsel Geoffrey Farquharson, who represents Belizaire, then asked Justice Evans whether inquiries were conducted into his complaint about untoward remarks made against him by the forewoman and two other jurors after he was found in contempt.

Justice Evans said she did not see the need to conduct one because she had not heard what he said had happened. Jethlyn Burrows and Carlson Shurland, who represents Hall and Dames, respectively, said they too had not heard any untoward statements made by the jurors.

The judge thanked the jurors for their commitment to public service. "I thank you… you spent seven or eight months with us. We understand you have taken time out of your lives to render service," she said.

She told jurors that their task is to decide whether the three men are guilty or not guilty of the offences they are charged with.

She advised them that during the trial there were exchanges between the court and counsel, with some outbursts behaviour, and that they should not give consideration to that.

"You are deciding the fate of three young men charged with serious offences and each has pleaded not guilty," the judge said.

Justice Evans said that they must look at the facts from all the evidence produced by the witnesses, both oral and the items exhibited in court, and decide what or who they believe, and what witnesses statements they accept or reject.

Jurors were told to disregard anything they may have heard or read outside of the courtroom.

She said while it is a tragic case that caused a gamut of emotions, they must not allow sympathy for the families of the deceased, or defendants to affect them, or their perception of crime in the society as general.

Justice Evans said that persons brought before the courts are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

None of the defendants, she said, has to prove his innocence because the law presumes they are innocent and the prosecution must prove they are guilty.

The prosecution has to prove two things, she said. Firstly, that an offence has been committed, and secondly, that the persons who committed the offence are the defendants.

The law, he said, requires the prosecution to prove guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. You must be without a reasonable doubt, if you have a doubt then the Crown has not proven its case and the defendants must be found not guilty.

Justice Evans told jurors it is a joint trial involving multiple charges against the defendants and that they must consider each count separately, and bring a separate verdict for each count in the case of each of the three defendants.

She said that the prosecution does not have to prove motive.

According to the judge, the defendants being concerned together are accused of intentionally causing the death of Barry and Sheena Johnson by means of unlawful harm on September 12, 2015, and that they are concerned together with robbing them of a set of keys and their 2003 GMC truck valued at $8,000.

The prosecution has to prove that the Johnsons died by means of unlawful harm, that their deaths occurred within one year and a day of the shooting, that unlawful harm was inflicted by persons and that defendants who are accused are the persons who committed the offences.

According to evidence, the couple was found shot to death on the morning of September 13, 2015. Mr Johnson died of a single gunshot wound to the head, and Mrs Johnson was shot six times about the body, including the head. Both were pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor. Mr Johnson's body was discovered outside the residence in a pool of blood, and Mrs Johnson was lying on the ground at the entrance of the doorway of the residence. Pathologist Mandy Pedican, who performed the autopsies on September 14, testified that the victims' cause of death was from the gunshot injury to the head.

In reference to the murder charges, the judge noted that the prosecution must prove there was no lawful excuse for the killing of Barry and Sheena Johnson, and that whoever inflicted harm intended to kill them.

"You cannot convict unless you feel sure the perpetrators had specifically intended to kill them," the judge said.

In reference to the armed robbery charge, she said it must be proven that the accused were armed with offensive instruments and that in doing so, used force, or violence against persons or seeks to put persons in fear.

While evidence was presented in court indicating that the accused did not intend to steal the truck and keys, the property was taken without the consent of the owner. The judge said because Barry and Sheena are deceased they cannot testify or say that, but noted that witnesses had testified that they knew the GMC truck T-8688 registered sticker in their names, belonged to them.

Justice Evans said the prosecution is relying on the evidence of co-defendants Alan Alcime and Virgil Hall, who were initially charged with the five men and accepted plea deals and pleaded guilty to armed robbery.

Alcime and Virgil Hall identified Devaughn Hall as the shooter. According to evidence, Hall told Alcime he knew where some $2million and cocaine was and wanted to know if he wanted to go with him to get it and told him to bring along another person. Alcime invited Virgil Hall.

The prosecution's case, she said, is also based on video footage from cameras recording murders, police statements and recording of interviews given by defendants Paul Belizaire and Kevin Dames following their arrests, a video recording of Belizaire on inquiries with police to several areas where he pointed out to police where the truck and keys were abandoned on a dirt road near the container port, and where they waited in bushes in Deadman's Reef for Mr Johnson to arrive home.

It is alleged that Dames dropped the men off to Deadman's Reef. He testified in the box that he did not know what the men were going to do.

The judge told jurors that they must use common sense as they consider the facts in the case.