Director of Public Prosecutions Victoria Charles-Clarke’s eyes were fixed on the faces of the jury as she relayed the history of "bad blood" that existed between Dave George and Jessie St Cyr of Gros Islet. The seven men and women seated in the jury box listened attentively to Charles-Clarke’s opening remarks. Twenty-one-year-old St Cyr, also known as ‘Dollar’, sat in the dock of the courtroom awaiting his fate.
St Cyr, who has spent 31 months on remand was accused of shooting George, known as ‘Solaire’, in the back on September 19, 2005. Kenneth Benjamin presided over the case and Jeannot Michel Walters represented the accused. The first witness called to the stand was Martha St Brice, the girlfriend of the deceased. Dressed in a black buttoned-up shirt and flared blue jeans skirt, she testified that while in her shop on that fateful Monday morning, she heard the indiscernible voices of George and St Cyr arguing outside.
Later that evening St Brice sat in front of her shop having a bite. Two electric bulbs above the entrance of the shop lit up her immediate sitting area. She said she noticed St Cyr approaching a dark yard opposite the shop. This yard frequently served as a short cut to get to Marina Street. St Brice remembered after eating she had left George outside the shop and retired to her bed. According to St Brice, she woke up at 11pm startled by the sound of a gunshot reverberating into the night. A minute after she saw her boyfriend enter the bedroom.
St Brice said he told her: "Liline, look Dollar shoot me there," while pointing to his chest. St Brice then said that she noticed a hole in his chest and that he was bleeding. She said she asked him if he was certain St Cyr was the one who shot him. He replied, "Yes! Look Dollar running in de yard there. "How many shots did you hear?" asked Charles-Clarke. "Three," St Brice replied. "How do you know it was gunshots?" asked Charles-Clarke. She explained that the firing of gunshots was a familiar sound in the area she lived.
St Brice told the court that upon her boyfriend’s request she called for an ambulance. She then walked him to her mother’s house, located at an estimated eight feet from her home to wait. "Can you please describe to the court the premises you and George occupied?" Charles-Clarke requested. She fought with her tears as she explained that they occupied a two-bedroom, partially wooden and concrete structure. One room was used as a restaurant and bar and was accessed via the street.
The other was used for sleeping and was accessed through the small business. When asked to identify ‘Dollar’ her eyes narrowed on the accused seated in the dock.Speaking with this reporter during a court break, St Brice said that though she had no children with George, her five-year-old daughter lived with them and amazingly slept through the gun shots that shattered the silent night.
The ambulance arrived 23 minutes later. Fireman Alphar Williams testified that he checked George’s vital signs. He said that upon transporting George to the Victoria Hospital, he observed that George was breathing deeply, was sweaty and appeared weak. St Brice returned to the stand, as Walters assertively stood up to address her. "Is it dark or very dark along Chapel Street?" inquired Walters. "Very dark," St Brice reflected. "Are you sure of the order in which you heard the gunshots?" Walters further asked."Yes," she confirmed.
"On September 22, 2005 Sergeant Charles Alsay recorded a statement from you saying that you heard three gunshots, immediately got up, then saw Solaire run into the room." Walters recited as he flipped through his papers. She did not recall saying this to the officer. Walters briefly consulted with Charles-Clarke, then returned to ask St Brice about the differences in another statement she recorded for evidence on May 19, 2006 before a magistrate at the 1st District Court. The differences being: The sequence in which the shots were fired; the words uttered to St Brice by George; and the sudden mention of George bleeding when he entered the bedroom in St Brice’s testimony.
Walters later established that George had many enemies and was involved in several altercations. Two of which resulted in the burning of his jeep and the slashing of his face."So you would agree that George was on very acrimonious terms with certain people," suggested Walters. "Yes," St Brice agreed. "Do you know what acrimonious means," the judge wondered. "No," she admitted. Then explained that she assumed its meaning by the context in which it was used.
St Brice and the jury were excused before the judge and Walters engaged in a lengthy tug of words on the relevance of establishing whether St Brice’s testimony, regarding what she was told by the deceased was fabricated. After referring to several law books, the judge had Walters look up a chapter from the Evidence Act 22 subsection 2B, which he read out to the court.
The judge further explained that according to the Act it was basically left to the jurors to determine the truthfulness of the statements rendered by the witness. Charles- Clarke supported that argument and added that the possibility of fabrication did not coincide with the testimony given by her witness. Taking the opportunity to offer that despite previous altercations, the deceased made no hesitation to identify his shooter as being St Cyr.
St Brice returned to the stand. Walters stood with his left hand in his pocket to again address the witness. The accused sat with his arms folded and his legs crossed as he listened attentively. After careful examination of St Brice’s statements Walters reiterated that St Brice told both the magistrate and the police on different occasions that she heard three shot after which her boyfriend came to the bedroom. "Now you’re saying that you heard one shot and whilst speaking to George the other two shots were fired, which is it?" Walters injected. "But that’s what I heard," she submitted with a perplexed look.
"You are confused and angry and have made up this statement," Walters fired, raising his voice. "No," she returned. "You can’t even recall the order you heard the shots fired!" he exclaimed. A smartly dressed officer then took the stand. PC Kenny Pinel testified that he received information while at CID. He went to Victoria hospital accompanied by another officer at 12:35pm, September 20, 2005. He then went to examine the decease’s home.
He stated that there was blood to the front of the door of the shop and bullet holes to its side. He walked the center of the street and found a bullet, 12 feet away from the shop. He later returned at 6pm that evening to walk the other side of the street. Hidden in the bush, under some dried banana leaves he discovered four shell casings, 35 feet away from the shop. The crime scene officers Constables Wilfred and Denis took possession of evidence recovered and photos that were taken at the location. He told the jury that the casings appeared fairly new.
Pathologist Dr Stephen King took long strides to the stand, wearing a long sleeve beige shirt and brown pants. The doctor clearly spoke into the microphone, saying that on September 21 Matthew Renee went to Victoria’s mortuary to identify the body of his son, Dave George, in the presence of Sergeant Alsay and PC Irvin Mesmaine. King said the adult male was 180cm long and had an average body size.
The gun shot entry was to the right of his back and measured one centimeter in diameter, 13 cm to the right of his midline and 14cm below the top of his shoulder. Under this entry wound was a track that passed through the right scapular (shoulder blade), through the sixth right intercaustal space, breaking the seventh rib through the lower lobe of the right lung. The exit wound to the front of his right chest measured 1.5cm and was rugged. His right lung was collapsed and weighed 360 grams.
Four liters of blood and blood clots was accumulated in the right chest cavity due to the damage lung and large blood vessels. His skull was intact, his brain, left lung, heart and digestive organs were normal. In his opinion the cause of death was hemorrhagic shock due to bleeding to death, as a result of the single gun shot wound that passed through his chest.
There were no powder marks around the entry wound. He pointed to his mid chest and to the lower part of his shoulder blade to illustrate to the court where the bullet entered and left. Stating that the track it made was typically that of a bullet. Chance of survival was not great but present, King told the court, provided there was rapid and aggressive medical and surgical intervention but there was still no guarantee that the patient would survive.
Sergeant Alsay returned to the stand, he mentioned that on September 29 he applied for a search warrant. He then left with St Cyr, who led him to a small wooden house on St John Street. There he conducted a comprehensive search for a firearm. Nothing was found. Dr Aljay Pierre, a medical doctor practicing at Victoria said that at 11:50pm, September 19, he attended to George. He told the jury that upon examining and treating the patient he observed that the bullet had entered through the chest and existed through the back.
Walter then asked Pierre if he would agree that a forensic pathologist would have done more to determine the journey of the bullet. He agreed. After lunch Walters inquired whether Corporal Wilfred of Scenes of Crime Office submitted a report to Alsay on the matters at hand. Alsay replied, "no." He admits that he was aware of the shell cases found but only knew that they were in Denis’ possession.
"You would agree that the yard across the shop was dark, if there’s no full moon." Walters declared. Alsay laughed, but agreed. Angela Samuel was the final witness to approach the stand. She was first reluctant to testify, saying she could not remember the day in question. The judge stood down the case to allow the witness to go through her notes and refresh her memory. When she returned to the stand, she told the court that she heard the two men quarrelling, describing it as ‘man talk,’ but did not make much notice of it and never expected it to reach this far.
The prosecutor reminded Samuel of words she recorded in a statement, stating that she heard St Cyr tell George that he would shoot him when he returns. She denied saying this. St Cyr did not take the stand during the trial. In the end the jury found St Cyr guilty of murder. The accused is remanded in custody and will be sentenced on May 9, 2008.