Mortimer Melville and Jevon Ismond, the two men accused of killing a former presidential guard, were yesterday freed after the jury found them not guilty in the High Court.
The 12-member jury returned the unanimous verdict of not guilty after spending close to four hours deliberating on the matter. At one point, jurors returned to the court room for further directions on the case from Justice Dawn Gregory, who presided over the trial.
Melville, a bus conductor of 93 Prince William Street, Plaisance, and of Hadfield Street, Werk-en-Rust, and Ismond, were on trial for killing Nazir Alli on August 21, 2007, during a robbery at Better Hope, East Coast. They had pleaded not guilty and were represented by defence lawyers Hookumchand and Compton Richardson. The state’s case was presented by Renita Singh and Diana Kaulesar.
Earlier in the trial, Justice Gregory had overruled the no-case submissions made by the defence and the accused were called upon to lead their defence. Melville gave an unsworn statement to the court, while Ismond gave a sworn statement. Both men denied that they knew about the crime and told the court that they were innocent.
After a voir dire, the judge did not allow caution statements of the accused to be admitted into evidence and the prosecution had to rely on the evidence of Bibi Alli, who is the sister of the deceased. Alli’s evidence to the court was that she was at her brother’s house on the night of the murder, when the two accused, who she later identified at an identification parade, came to the shop.
She had said that the men exited the shop only to return a few minutes later asking for insulation tape. They were told that no insulation tape was available and Melville then placed a gun to Alli’s head and told him it was a stick-up and he should hand over all of his jewellery and money. The men then asked the other occupants of the house to take off their jewellery.
Nazir Alli was a licensed-firearm holder, and during the robbery he had placed his hands behind his back and Melville allegedly stated that he had a gun due to his actions. It was around this time that Alli was allegedly shot and the accused then rode away on a bicycle.
The woman had also told the court that she had a good look at the faces of the accused while the ordeal was occurring and there was sufficient lighting at the premises for her to do so.
