By LR LiburdThe St. Kitts-Nevis Observer
After some five years on remand and three trials, Jahari ‘Baddie’ Bart of St. Johnson Village was on Wednesday (Jul. 6) found guilty of the April 4, 2011 murder of Laustin Jamie ‘Big Ship’ Williams.
The 24-year-old and his older brother, Kelroy ‘C Face’ Hazel, were jointly charged with Williams’ murder which saw two trials being aborted and another ending in hung jury.
The first trial, which began on July 5, 2012 and ended 11 days after, was declared a mistrial by His Lordship Justice Errol Thomas after it was revealed that a member of the jury was a relative of the accused brothers.
The second trial ended in a hung jury in relation to Bart, while a no-case submission was made on behalf of his brother and accepted by the court in 2015.
And during the January 2016 Criminal Assizes, Bart’s case was scheduled for trial but some difficulty was encountered when his counsel, Attorney-at-Law Chesley Hamilton, indicated to the court that he preferred not to take on any capital matters, especially since he has yet to be properly compensated for those he did in the past.
However, during the close of that Assizes, Hamilton informed the court of his decision to represent Bart if and when a third trial commences.
Hamilton kept his word when the third trial began on Monday (Jul. 4) with Dane Hamilton, Q.C., representing the Crown as Special Prosecutor, who called on several witnesses to take the stand, including the pathologist who performed the autopsy on Williams’ remains, a number of Police Officers and one of the individuals who claimed to have witnessed the shooting incident.
According to the details of the case revealed in the Basseterre High Court before Her Ladyship Justice Marlene Carter, Williams, the son of Retired Commissioner of Police Austin Williams, was playing a game of cards with three other persons in an empty lot within an alley in Buckley’s Estate when he was shot multiple times.
The incident reportedly occurred shortly after 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 and was pronounced dead at the scene by the District Medical Officer.
An autopsy was performed on Williams’ body by Forensic Pathologist Stephen Jones of Barbados, who revealed that he died as a result of gunshot injuries to the head, chest and abdomen with haemorrhage and shock.
The investigating officers told the court that Bart had confessed and gave a statement under caution that he had not intended to shoot Williams but another of the individuals with whom he [Williams] was gambling.
Defence counsel Hamilton argued that the confession statement purportedly given by his client was a fabrication concocted by the investigating officers. However, in his closing arguments, Special Prosecutor Hamilton pointed out that the defence counsel did not dispute that his client had signed the statement.
He also pointed out that the defence counsel did not dispute the details in the document which were supported by the account given by the witness who was present when Williams was shot.
In his closing arguments, Chesley Hamilton told the jury that the prosecution did not present any physical or forensic evidence to connect Bart to the crime and that the witness’ testimonies at times conflicted with details in the alleged statement given by his client.
After both prosecution and defence had rested their case, the jury retired and returned approximately one hour after with a unanimous guilty verdict.
Defence counsel Hamilton then made a request for the completion and presentation of a psychiatric report and also a social inquiry report before sentencing, which were agreed upon by Judge Justice Carter who deferred sentencing to a date to be fixed on receipt of both reports.
