By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A MAN was found not guilty yesterday of breaking into a woman’s house in Andros in 2022 and raping her.
Garnet Thompson Jr, 27, was unanimously acquitted by a nine-member jury on charges of rape and burglary.
Justice Guillimina Archer-Minns informed the defendant that he was free to go and thanked the jury for its service.
Prosecutors alleged that Thompson broke into the complainant’s home in Cargill Creek, Andros, on the night of November 18, 2022 and raped her. The complainant was 27 at the time.
The complainant, whose identity is being withheld, previously testified that she woke to find the defendant on top of her and felt his penis inside her vagina as she pushed him away. She said the defendant cursed as he stumbled back into a corner before fleeing the home. She told the court she did not know how long he had been inside the house and said he was a distant relative she had known for years.
The complainant’s mother testified that the accused had allegedly been inside the house without permission two nights before the alleged rape.
The defendant maintained his innocence, claiming he had permission to be in the house to wash dishes following a cookout held in the yard earlier that day. The complainant, however, denied that he ever had permission to be inside the home.
Kristin Butler-Beneby and Betty Wilson prosecuted, while Nathan Smith represented the defendant.
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