Jevon Patterson and Romel Buttery, the two men who were charged with corruptly obtaining cash from Stabroek News photographer Keno George for the return of his stolen camera, were yesterday acquitted by a city court.
The verdict was handed down by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the conclusion of a three-day trial of Patterson, 25, and Buttery, 26,
who were charged with corruptly obtaining $50,000 from George for helping him to recover his camera, which was stolen during an armed robbery.
Chief Magistrate McLennan told the court that she was satisfied that the prosecution, which was led by police prosecutor Deniro Jones, did not have enough evidence to support the contention that there was some sort of corruption in obtaining the monies from George. She said that the court believes that there was a form of agreement or arrangement between the men and George for them to be awarded the money for the stolen items. As a result, she said the prosecution failed to prove a case against Patterson and Buttery.
The Chief Magistrate noted that Patterson, during his testimony, said that he was on a fishing trip when he stumbled across a black bag with a camera inside. The accused had told the court that he saw on Facebook that there was a reward out for the stolen camera, which led him to contact George.
Patterson had told the court that he was not involved in the robbery and this was corroborated by George, who testified that the defendants were not the ones who robbed him and his friends.
Magistrate McLennan said that George did make an offer to the defendants and therefore she found them not guilty. Before letting Patterson and Buttery go free, the magistrate advised them that in the future when they find something they should take it to the police.
