Al Wilson, was yesterday freed in the High Court of murder after the prosecution’s main witness could not recall anything on how the incident occurred and was unable to point out the accused when asked.
Eyewitness Keon Singh’s evidence before the court was frequently prefaced by “I can’t remember” as he testified yesterday. After Singh’s testimony, prosecutor Diana Kaulesar, who presented the state’s case along with Natasha Backer, told the court that Singh’s evidence was what their case had relied on and as such they were closing it. The other piece of evidence was Wilson’s statement to the police which was thrown out in a voir dire (trial within a trial) that was held earlier.
Justice Brassington Reynolds, who presided over the matter, then asked the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty because the threshold for sufficient evidence had not been led by the prosecution for Wilson to be called upon to lead a defence.
The jury panel then returned a not guilty verdict and Wilson was discharged. His relatives burst into tears after the verdict and as he exited the courtroom they gathered around him.
Singh was a friend of the deceased, Jamal Clarke, who was stabbed to death on September 5, 2009 at Norton Street, Werk-en-Rust after an argument allegedly with Wilson and others.
When Singh was called by the prosecution to lead his evidence he stated that he knew the deceased and the accused who he said he saw prior to the incident. He was then asked whether he would be able to identify Wilson if he saw him in court to which he replied yes.
Backer then proceeded to ask him to look around the court room to see if Wilson was present. After taking a keen look around the court, Singh replied that he did not see Wilson who was at the time sitting in the prisoner’s dock located a short distance away from him.
Further, he said that he could not recall how Clarke died. He told the court that on the day of the incident, he saw Clarke who had some stuff like porridge or soup thrown on his chest area. He also said he saw Clarke lying on the road and he looked as though he was dying but when asked by Backer he said he could not remember if anyone was around him.
He added that Clarke had a wound to his chest but he could not say how he sustained it. During Singh’s evidence, Backer made an application for him to be deemed a hostile witness and asked for leave to put his deposition evidence to him.
But defence counsel, Nigel Hughes, rebutted that the witness was not reluctant and there had to be a demonstrated unwillingness in his actions. Based on this, Hughes argued that the threshold had not been reached to show anything to the contrary.
Justice Reynolds then overruled the prosecution’s application and allowed Singh to continue with his evidence. Singh continued to respond with “I can’t remember” to the various questions he was asked by the prosecution.
Backer then asked Singh if he could remember, prior to him coming to court, whether he was given a copy of his statement and deposition. He replied that he and his father read it one time but added that “I am a working man…”
After many attempts by Backer to get Singh to provide answers, he was then allowed to see a copy of the deposition evidence that he had given to the court. After refreshing his memory, Backer asked him what he recalled about the incident and he went on to say that Clarke was involved in an incident with some boys and they threw a porridge-like substance on him and he (Clarke) came and told him.
At this point, Hughes interjected by saying that the witness must tell the court what he recalled and not repeat exactly what he read from the deposition. Justice Reynolds then instructed Singh to go back to 2009 and tell the court what he recalled.
Singh then stated that he saw Clarke who spoke with him and subsequently left and went in a southern direction but added that “I can’t recall anything after that.”
Clarke, 21, at the time of the killing, resided at Louisa Row, Werk-en-Rust, George-town.
