By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
TWO officers were stunned after a jury returned a homicide by manslaughter finding yesterday at the end of an inquest into the death of two men killed by police near Cowpen Road on January 23, 2018.
Police shot Roy Stubbs and Ernst Foreste near their green Honda Accord, with officers claiming the deceased aimed their weapons at them.
This is the second finding of homicide by manslaughter against the police this year. Once rare, adverse findings against the police have been more common in the last year than justified homicide findings. Last week, Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis said that he would have a conversation with the commissioner of police if the pattern of such findings continues.
Coroner’s Court inquests do not determine criminal liability, but adverse findings against the police could spark criminal prosecutions. Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Cordell Frazier has not yet said whether she will charge officers in the previous cases.
Dr Caryn Sands, a pathologist, testified earlier this week that Roy Stubbs’ cause of death was gunshot wounds to the torso and extremities, while Ernst Foreste had gunshot wounds to the head, torso and lower left extremity.
Before the five jurors reached their conclusion about the shooting yesterday, Inspector Hervin Curtis, one of the two officers in the inquest, testified about what happened.
He said he and Inspector Akeem Wilson received information that a green Honda Accord was involved in an armed robbery at KFC in Oakes Field and that the vehicle was last seen on Cowpen Road.
He said while Inspector Wilson was driving, they encountered a green vehicle on Cowpen Road and tried to get the deceased to stop by using their sirens.
He said he used the foghorn to shout, “police, stop the vehicle”, but the deceased ignored the command and sped away.
After a brief pursuit, the men’s vehicle stopped near the juncture of Leabert Close and Crispin Street.
Inspector Curtis said officers then told the deceased to exit the vehicle as he approached with his Colt M4 Rifle pointed downwards while Inspector Wilson had a 9mm handgun.
He said he recognised Stubbs when he got out of the driver’s side of the vehicle and immediately became in fear because he identified him as a suspect in several murders.
“I was scared,” he said. “I was in fear just from seeing him because I know the kind of person he is and the crimes he was accused of.”
Inspector Curtis further said Stubbs was wearing an ankle monitor for a pending murder trial.
He said when Stubbs got out of the car, he had his weapon drawn and fired at them, causing him and his partner to engage the deceased.
Inspector Curtis said seconds later, Foreste also got out of the vehicle with a gun but couldn’t recall if he fired at them. He said events unfolded quickly and that he and his partner had to defend themselves.
After saying Foreste was a suspect in a prior murder and armed robbery incident, Inspector Curtis said that if he had faced the same situation again, he would do the same thing. He told the jury he did nothing wrong and followed his training and the law.
In addition to noting that he had previously received gunshot injuries in the line of duty, Inspector Curtis said he engaged the deceased to preserve not only the officers’ lives but those of civilians.
However, when a juror asked why the gun recovered near Foreste’s body was found in the car, he could not say if the deceased went back to the vehicle at any point.
Acting Coroner Kara Turnquest Deveaux presided over the inquest.
Angelo Whitfield marshalled the evidence.
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