One of the investigators who probed the Raymond Chin murder case said other leads were followed but no one fitting the description given by Jay Marie Chin was ever found.
Corporal Claude Williams’ statement was in response to a question by Defence Counsel Cosbert Cumberbatch.
Chin is on trial for the Saturday November 28, 2009 shooting death of her ex-husband Raymond.
Raymond was shot 13 times while at the Jay Chin Top Notch Variety Store on upper Church Street, a business jointly owned by the Chins.
He was rushed to the Mount St John’s Medical Centre (MSJMC) where he died shortly after his arrival.
The shooting was initially reported to be the outcome of a robbery by a person in a black hooded shirt. However, based on certain leads the police’s attention turned to Chin and she was arrested and charged in connection with her ex-husband’s murder.
Corporal Williams, who took the stand yesterday for a second consecutive day, said based on investigations the police found out that the cash register that Chin referred to was a Huggies Baby Wipes container.
Chin had told Sergeant Cordel O’Garro that the perpetrator took about ,000 from the cash register.
Corporal Williams, though, was unable to say with any certainty whether that baby wipes container was the only one or there were others at the store.
The investigator was asked by Crown Counsel Adlai Smith if he had any training in the use of firearms, since he had put it to Chin that after a person uses a firearm gunshot residue (GSR) would be present and would remain on the body and clothing for a long while even after washing. Williams responded in the negative and explained that question was asked because he was aware that the accused had washed her clothes. He said Chin had disclosed that.
The defence objected to the question saying that the officer’s statement “stinks of fabrication.” Cumberbatch contended that it was wrong to try to insert, at this stage, the statement of washing clothes. He told the court that in none of Chin’s two statements and two interviews with the police did anyone ask her where her clothes are, or did she wash them.
Cumberbatch said that in one of her interviews, Chin was asked over 500 questions.
Attorney John Fuller, who also represents Chin, said the fact that evidence was lead that no GSR was found on Chin’s clothing was paramount to her defence. He said the officer’s statement was a deliberate attempt to derail the defences’ case.
Smith, in reply, said that the prosecution cannot be expected to disclose every dot and I. He told the court this would lead to a situation where the Crown would have to provide notice of additional evidence for everything.
The crown counsel said it would come down to who the jury believes- the police officer or Chin if she chooses to offer an explanation.
Presiding Judge, Justice Richard Floyd, agreeing with the defences’ submissions, said, “To go down that path now is wrong.”
Justice Floyd said the defence did not have disclosure of the statement beforehand and for the prosecution to seek to do that would not be allowed.
The jury was then instructed to disregard the question and answer.
At this stage Fuller requested that the defence wished to hammer home a point and to discredit the officer by probing the matter.
“It must be discredited,” he told the court. Justice Floyd then inquired whether the defence wanted to pursue the matter despite his ruling.
Cumberbatch immediately rose to his feet and addressed the issue and Fuller’s request was abandoned.
While continuing to give his evidence, Corporal Williams said that investigations were conducted to ascertain whether any person tried to harm Raymond in the past. These investigations, he said, yielded nothing.
The officer rebuffed a suggestion by the defence that Chin was the only person that their investigations focused on.
“A person fitting the description (medium build, five feet six inches and wearing a black hooded shirt) was sought by investigators but never found. She (Chin) is the only person to see that person,” the officer told the court.
In reply to a question by Cumberbatch whether the 35-year-old accused, during her interview, would refer to her late husband with affection, the officer said, “Well if reference to husband is affectionate, then I would have to say yes.”
He admitted though that Chin referred to Raymond’s mother and sisters with affection during the interview and went as far as to refer to them as her family.
The case has been adjourned until Monday when the prosecution is hoping to close its case.
Shannon Jones is assisting Smith in the matter. Attorney Charlesworth Brown is assisting Cumberbatch and Fuller in defending Chin.
(Source http://www.antiguaobserver.com/?p=66884)
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