Lusignan massacre trial…Three more police witnesses testify

Jul 26, 2013 News

---

 

 

By Latoya Giles
Three more police witnesses have testified as the Lusignan massacre trial continues before Justice Navindra Singh at the High Court.
Mark Royden Williams, called ‘Smallie’ and James Anthony Hyles, known as ‘Sally’ are facing murder charges. The two are being represented by attorneys Roger Yearwood and Nigel Hughes respectively.
Floyd Hosanna was the first witness called yesterday. The police corporal said that he was a rank in the Criminal Investigation Department attached to the “Crime Scene Unit”. According to the witness, he attended several courses which were offered by the Guyana Police Force and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Hosanna said on the day of the incident, it was 04:15hrs when he received certain information and as a result he proceeded to Track “A” Lusignan, East Coast Demerara (ECD). He said that he was in the company of other police officers including Force photographer Trotman, who is now retired.
The witness told the court that upon arrival in the area he proceeded to lot 20, which was a wooden house. Hosanna said he went upstairs and saw the body of a male East Indian who was wearing blue three-quarter pants. In that same premises, Hosanna said he also saw the motionless bodies of two females who were lying face down. He explained that one of the females was wearing a “flowered night dress” and the other in a “blue trousers”.
Hosanna said that after that he asked Trotman to photograph the bodies. The witness told the court that he examined the external parts of the bodies and observed what appeared to be gunshot wounds. He said that the photographer took photos of those too. The witness further stated that he found four objects which appeared to be “spent shells”. Hosanna said that he collected the objects and placed them into a white envelope which he marked “FH2H2, 2008”.
He said that he further examined the crime scene where he saw five cartridge casings, and he instructed Trotman to take photographs. Hosanna said that he later placed the cartridges in a white envelope and marked them as FH2HQ “A”, 2008.
The witness further stated that he went over to Lot 23. He said that he went into the building and saw the body of a female in a blue night dress lying face down.  Also in the house there was the body of a male East Indian in a “grey brief” and another in a yellow vest and white trousers. He said that he instructed the photographer to take pictures and the same procedure as the previous crime scene was observed.
Hosanna said that he conducted a further investigation of the crime scene, but did not find any spent shells or cartridges.
The witness further told the court that he went onto Lot 25 Track A, and went into that house where he saw the motionless body of a male East Indian lying under a bed face down. Once again the process of taking photos and examination of the remains was observed
Hosanna said he found eight objects which appeared to be spent shells, and he instructed Trotman to take pictures. He said that he collected them and placed it into a white envelope and marked it as FH3HQ 2008. Also at that scene, Hosanna said he found two objects which appeared to be ammunition. He said that he placed it into a white envelope and marked it as FH3HQ “A”, 2008. He said that he found what appeared to be a fired bullet; a photograph was taken, and it was placed into a white envelope.
Hosanna said that he went through other houses in the area where bodies were found. The witness brought to court a total of nine envelopes which contained spent shells, cartridges and bullets which were found at the scene. Of the nine envelopes, only six were tendered into evidence.
Under cross examination by attorney at law Roger Yearwood, the witness was asked whether “CSI” (Crime Scene Investigation) meant only picking up spent shells or taking pictures. He answered in the negative. The witness was asked whether he caused any fingerprinting to be done and Hosanna said no.
The witness agreed with the suggestion from the lawyer that fingerprints at scenes like that would have been important. Hosanna was questioned about whether he had caused anyone to do fingerprinting, but he said that he could not recall. The lawyer suggested to the witness that he never told anyone to take fingerprints. Hosanna again declared that he could not recall.
Yearwood continued to question the witness about his knowledge about the workings of certain weapons. Hosanna said that he had “some kind of knowledge, but not all”. He was asked about the workings of a shotgun and whether one would have to manually put the cartridges in and he answered yes. Yearwood in a follow up question asked Hosanna if it wasn’t possible to get fingerprints from it like that. The witness admitted to that suggestion.
“As a crime scene investigator you would have done everything in your power to bring the perpetrators to justice…isn’t that so Mr. Hosanna?” the lawyer asked the witness, who answered in the affirmative.
Yearwood then asked Hosanna if didn’t he see it as important to dust for fingerprints and he answered no.
Attorney at law Nigel Hughes, in his cross-examination of the witness sought to ascertain whether he knew who the head for the investigation was. Hosanna said that he did not know.  The witness was asked if there was line of communication and he said yes, adding that it was done by telephone.
Hughes asked Hosanna whether the police were able to ascertain how the perpetrators came, if it was by road or by the backdams. Hosanna said he recalled that at Lot 30 Track A, they saw footprints heading to the canefields, which led to a canal. Hosanna said that he believed that the photographer took pictures. He was asked whether he saw any evidence that anything crossed the canal and he said no.
The second witness to be called was Sergeant Eon Jackson, who was deemed a ballistics expert after Senor State Prosecutor Judith Gildharie-Mursalin made an application after his qualifications were listed. Jackson has been working in that field for the last 18 years, and did training in Barbados and the United States.
According to Jackson, he received the ballistics which were taken from the scene and he did examinations. He said that he prepared a ballistic analyst report and later wrote a statement. He said that he later handed over the report.
The third witness called was Assistant Superintendent of Police Trevor Reid. Reid is the officer in charge of the ‘Serious Crimes Unit’ and is stationed at the Criminal Investigations Department. During Reid’s evidence in chief, the matter was adjourned. He is expected to return today.

 

 

---

---