On last night's newscast, we told you about the latest developments in the murder trial of William "Danny" Mason, and his 4 co-defendants, Ashton Vanegas, Keiron Fernandez, Terrence Fernandez, and Ernest Castillo. DPP Cheryl-Lynn Vidal and her team are trying to convince Justice Antoinette Moore that they were responsible for the July 2016 murder of Pastor Lewellyn Lucas, who was beheaded.
Yesterday's testimony came from 2 BTL expert witnesses who testified that they had to comply with a court order from the Chief Justice to hand over the phone records for 4 cellular phone numbers, including the business number for William Mason, and the personal number which belonged to Pastor Lucas.
Well, the first witness to testify today was Russell Blackett, the retired Assistant Police Commissioner, who was the deputy, and the acting Police Commissioner when Pastor Lucas' head was discovered in the back of Mason's pickup truck.
He was recalled to testify, and he had to carefully explain his involvement with the case and the investigating officer. During his testimony, the defense attorneys kept on challenging him that he had a conflict of interest, and he couldn't be impartial because Pastor Lucas was a friend of his. He asserted that he did not try to influence the investigating officer in any way, and he only got periodic updates from the investigator. He said that he was only in close proximity to the case for 1 day, after which, the investigating officer took over.
After that, the investigating officer, whose work was pivotal in the arrest and criminal charging of these 5 accused, took the stand. He told the court that he found Pastor Lucas' head by accident because he was investigating a robbery.
On that night, he was following up on information, which led him to Sancho's bar, when he encountered Mason, his truck, and his 4 employees. He said that he wanted to search the vehicle, but the men appeared to have the intention of wanting to obstruct him. He said that Mason's 4 employees actually formed a blockade to try and stop him, and he had to detain them for the boisterous behavior. He said that he eventually got a chance to search Mason's vehicle, which is when he found Pastor Lucas' head in a bucket, in the pan of the pickup.
He spent the entire afternoon, outlining every detail of his investigation, accounting for his actions the entire time. Late this evening, the defense attorneys started cross-examining him, but due to time, the case was adjourned until tomorrow.
We got a chance to briefly speak with 2 defense attorneys about the day's testimony, and here's what they told us:
Reporter
"Are there holes in the evidence being presented by Crown?"
Norman Rodriguez - Attorney for Ashton Vanegas
"Last first, if there are holes, you'll have to come into the court to find out, when I do my cross, or when any of the other attorneys do their cross. But today, it is basically what we've been doing all along. The witnesses come, give their evidence, they're examined, and we haven't had the opportunity to cross-examine any of the 2 witnesses. Yes, we did cross, the officer in charge, not the officer in charge of the investigation."
Reporter
"The Deputy Commissioner of Police."
Norman Rodriguez
"Yes, the then Deputy. But, right now, we're looking at the other witness, the investigating officer, giving evidence, and then, we'll get a chance to cross him on that."
Bryan Neal - Attorney for Keron Fernandez
"I don't want to get too [much] into the details of what he said in court, but he is the man who happened on this decapitated head at Sancho's Bar in a pickup, and he has come to testify as to what he found, and what he did as a part of his investigation. So far, it has more or less been routine. There's nothing really to report."
Reporter
"Sir, is the case against the defendants and the accused, is the case being built up to an unbreakable extent. Is a strong case being built against the defense at this point in time?"
Bryan Neal
"As a defense lawyer, I've never seen an unbreakable case. I've seen cases with hard facts, and in the end, I've seen people being acquitted on very hard facts. So, until the judge gives her final ruling, that is why we're hesitant to give too much information because it's really for the judge. But to answer your question, no. Hard cases have resulted in acquittals in my experience."
The defense attorneys will get an opportunity to finish up with their cross-examination, and after that the DPP is expected to close her case.
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