‘Picture Boy’ murder trial….Bullet removed from victim matches weapon found with defendant

Oct 19, 2011 News

---

 

 

– Ballistics expert

By Latoya Giles

Ballistics Expert Sergeant Eon Jackson said yesterday that the bullet which was removed from the body of Chandrapaul Persaud called ‘Kero man’ during the post mortem examination and handed over to him was discharged from the AK-47 assault rifle which was found with murder accused, Cyon Collier called ‘Picture Boy’.
Jackson was called by the Prosecution to testify before Justice Winston Patterson and a mixed jury when the murder trial continued.
Collier is on trial for the murder of Persaud at Non Pareil, East Coast Demerara, on September 30, 2006.
When Jackson took to the witness stand, he testified about his qualifications, including Firearms and Ammunition training/examination courses in which he had participated, both in Barbados and the United States of America, where he was successful and had received certification.
By 2006, he had been attached to the Ballistics Section at CID Headquarters, Eve Leary, for some 11 years and had examined an average of 900-1000 weapons as well as some 10,000 rounds of ammunition.
The witness said he had given evidence in the Magistrates’ and High Courts of Guyana more than 250 times.
State Prosecutor Judith Gildharie-Mursalin made an application to the Trial Judge for Jackson to be deemed an expert in Firearms and Ammunition (Ballistics).
However, this application was objected to by Defence Counsel, Lyndon Amsterdam, who is appearing in association with Keisha Chase and Yollanda Lamott.
Amsterdam submitted that deeming the witness an expert could not be based just on mere numbers but on the quality of his examinations and whether any supervision of his work was done.

Prosecutor Gildharie-Mursalin relied on the authority of R v. Silverlock (1894) 2 Q.B. 766, submitting that it was enunciated in the said case that to be deemed an expert, one had to be skilled in the branch of knowledge involved, but need not have acquired his skill as a professional.
The prosecutor also said in that case, a solicitor who had been an amateur student of handwriting for 10 years was held competent to testify as a handwriting expert since the Court had found that the fact that he was not a professional went towards weight, not to admissibility.
The Prosecutor proceeded to ask the judge to consider when determining this preliminary point that Jackson, with his qualifications and on-the-job experience acquired over those eleven years, as well as the numbers of examinations of firearms and ammunition he had done, was suitably qualified to be deemed an expert by the Court.
Justice Patterson overruled the objection.
In his evidence-in-chief, Jackson testified that on October 3, 2006, he received at the Ballistics Section at CID Headquarters, from Corporal Floyd Hosanna, a marked and sealed envelope containing two 7.62 x 39 fired casings.
Hosanna had testified earlier in the trial that he had retrieved the two fired casings from the verandah at the home of Chandrapaul Persaud at Non Pareil on the night of September 30, 2006.
Jackson said that on October 3, 2006, he received from Sergeant Chabinauth Singh, a marked and sealed envelope containing one 7.62 x 39 fired bullets.
Singh had earlier testified that he was present during the autopsy of Persaud when Forensic Pathologist, Dr. Nehaul Singh had removed a warhead from Persaud’s body and handed it over to him (Singh).
Jackson said that on October 5, 2006, he received from ASP Michael Kingston a marked and sealed parcel containing a 7.62 x 39 AK-47 assault rifle with a magazine and a marked and sealed envelope containing 13 7.62 x 39 rounds of ammunition.
The witness recounted that he discharged three of the rounds submitted to him from the AK-47 rifle and found the firearm to be in working order.
He then compared the three fired casings to the two submitted to him by Hosanna and found that all five casings bore the same firing pin impressions and striation marks in identical sequence.
Based on his findings, he formed the opinion that the two fired casings submitted to him by Hosanna were discharged in the AK-47 assault rifle submitted by Kingston.
Jackson said he then compared the fired bullet submitted to him by Singh to the three bullets he had discharged using the said AK 47 Rifle and he found that all four bullets had the same striation marks in identical sequence.
He expressed his opinion that the fired bullet submitted by Singh was discharged from the said rifle.
Jackson explained that striation marks on a bullet are the marks left when it passes through the barrel of the firearm. He said it is the signature of the firearm and would be unique to the particular firearm and cannot be reproduced in another firearm.
The witness explained that the last time he saw the fired bullet and the two fired casings was at the time he gave his evidence before the Magistrate at Vigilance Magistrate’s Court where they were tendered by him and admitted into evidence on December 13, 2007.
Jackson said after that court hearing, he had signed and uplifted the said bullet and casings and lodged same at the Vigilance Police Station for safe keeping.
According to Jackson, when he was notified that he was required to give evidence during this current trial, he went to Vigilance Police Station two days last week where he contacted the Station Sergeant and made checks himself for the said bullet and casings, but they could not be found.
Since the exhibits were not found, the Prosecutor asked the witness to describe the fired bullet and casings which he did, giving details as to size, shape etc.
Jackson, with leave of the court, then checked the AK 47 assault rifle for the serial number. He indicated that the number which was on the exterior of the weapon had been filed off and even though he had tried to restore it, he could not because of the depth of the filing. He then removed the top cover on the weapon where he found the serial number and read same to the court.
The witness then demonstrated how the magazine is inserted into the weapon and said that the magazine was capable of holding 30 rounds of 7.62 x 39 ammunition. He further explained that in the absence of a magazine, rounds can be inserted into the chamber of the weapon directly by cocking the bolt assembly, which he pulled to the rear of the weapon.
He further explained how the discharging of a round of ammunition is done and said that the weapon had the capacity to be set at rapid automatic fire or single fire as well as discharging in “bursts” which means that the firearm is set on automatic fire and a quick pull of the trigger could result in 3-4 rounds being discharged at once.
Jackson also testified that he had checked the serial number of the said weapon through Interpol and against the list of firearms that were reported lost from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and he found this serial number to match the serial number of one of the AK-47 assault rifles that was reported stolen from the Guyana Defence Force.
Under cross-examination, Jackson was questioned about the courses he had done and whether he had written examinations and was successful to which he replied in the affirmative.
He also said he had never sought the services of anyone to analyse his work but explained that he was being tested every other year.
His explanation was objected to by Defence Counsel who asked the Judge to limit the witness’ response to only what he was asked. Justice Patterson then instructed Jackson to answer only what he was asked and not to proffer explanations.
Jackson was asked whether the evidence he had given in the Magistrate’s Court was true and correct and whether he had made any mistakes when he testified before the Magistrate. He said yes, his evidence was true and correct and he had made no mistakes.
Defence Counsel then pointed out to Jackson that in his deposition evidence he had told the Magistrate that he discharged three rounds from the rifle, then he had opened the envelope with the three rounds and then he had discharged three from the said rifle.
He was asked whether he agreed, based on that evidence before the Magistrate, that he would have discharged six rounds. The witness said he agreed.
However, when re-examined on this issue, the witness explained that he gave his evidence in terms of the parcels he received and what he did with each and then he dealt with the envelope with the rounds separately, but in this court he spoke about the two packages and then what he did with them.
When he was further cross-examined, Jackson was asked about the test he had done to form his conclusions and whether the only test he had done was discharging the rounds and comparing them to those submitted. He answered in the affirmative, explaining that this comparison was done under a microscope.
He was also questioned by Defence Counsel as to whether he had taken photographs of the firing pin impressions and striation marks, but he explained that these cannot be so easily photographed.
The witness was also questioned at length about the markings on the parcel which contained the rifle and whether the chain of evidence had to be preserved in order for his findings to be accurate. He said yes.
He was also questioned as to whether he had examined a 12-gauge Mossburg Pump Action Shotgun and he said yes, but not in relation to this matter. He was further questioned as to whether such a shotgun is similar in length and size to the AK-47 assault rifle, but Jackson said it depends on the barrel and butt.
The State’s final witness is expected to be Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh who will not be available until next week Thursday, October 27. The trial was adjourned to that date, as Amsterdam has indicated that he wants to cross-examine the doctor in relation to the autopsy.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Michael Kingston, Sergeant Chabinauth Singh, Zaheem Isshack, retired Police Inspector William Pitt, the victim’s wife Bibi Isshack and the couple’s neighbour, Liloutie Dhanai, have all given evidence in the matter.

---

---