By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A POLICE officer testified yesterday that a man who bought a car stolen during an armed robbery identified one of the accused in a photo lineup as the person who sold him the vehicle.
Andre Lightbourne, 31, and Luther Delancy, 22, appeared before Justice Neil Braithwaite as testimony began in their armed robbery trial.
Prosecutors allege the pair, while armed with a firearm, robbed Sherika Gibson of a brown Nissan Cube and $48 while she was near Go Postal on Carmichael Road on July 15, 2022.
The suspects allegedly pulled up beside Ms Gibson in a dark-coloured Mazda before the carjacking. The stolen Nissan Cube belonged to Ms Gibson’s boyfriend.
Sergeant David Rolle said that on August 10, 2022, while at the Criminal Investigation Department, he spoke with Detective Corporal Demeritte about Lightbourne.
Sergeant Rolle said he prepared a 12-person photo lineup that included Lightbourne.
He said Michael McCartney, the man who bought the stolen car, identified Lightbourne as the person who sold him the vehicle. The officer said Lightbourne appeared as person number five in the photo lineup and signed the document after the identification.
Detective Inspector Carlton Clifton Knowles said that around noon on August 9, 2022, he spoke with DC Demeritte before going to the cell block.
He said he spoke with both defendants, told them he was there in connection with an armed robbery and asked whether they wished to participate in an identification parade.
Detective Knowles said both men agreed and signed a form.
However, he said he was unable to find people who closely resembled the suspects or had similar characteristics after searching the Oakes Field and Bain Town areas.
Under questioning from defence attorney Philip Hilton, Detective Knowles said he spent between an hour and a half and two hours looking for people to participate in the parade.
Detective Knowles told defence attorney Miranda Adderley that he was not part of the team that arrested the defendants and could not say when they were arrested.
He said suspects can be detained for 48 hours and that police can request a further 48-hour extension.
The defence argued that the officer had time within that period to continue searching for people to participate in an identification parade.
Detective Knowles said it was possible for people to be misidentified, though he said he had never personally seen that happen.
He said he instructed an officer named Miller to conduct a photo identification.
Detective Knowles rejected Ms Adderley’s suggestion that this never happened. He also denied her suggestion that he was lying about searching for people to participate in the identification parade.
Ms Adderley challenged the timeline of events, saying that at 12.47pm that day, about 17 minutes after one of the suspects signed the identification parade form, a separate form for photo identification was signed. She said this conflicted with the officer’s timeline.
Detective Knowles said he gave Officer Miller the instruction after searching for people to participate in the identification parade.
Ms Adderley suggested that photo three in the lineup looked more pronounced than the others, but the officer disagreed.
Detective Knowles agreed that more could have been done to find people for the identification parade, saying he could have searched longer.
He could not recall whether Delancy’s attorney was present that day.
Under questioning from prosecutor Cashena Thompson, Detective Knowles said the identification parade forms for the defendants were marked 12.20pm and 12.30pm respectively.
Rashied Edgecombe also appeared for the prosecution.
Commenting has been disabled for this item.