By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
POLICE officers testified yesterday that they photographed two vehicles allegedly tied to a 2022 armed carjacking near a shipping company on Carmichael Road, including the stolen car and the vehicle prosecutors say the suspects used before the robbery.
Andre Lightbourne, 31, and Luther Delancy, 22, appeared before Justice Neil Braithwaite as testimony began in their armed robbery trial.
Prosecutors allege the pair, while armed with a firearm, robbed Sherika Gibson of a brown Nissan Cube and $48 in cash while she was near Go Postal on Carmichael Road on July 15, 2022.
The suspects allegedly pulled up beside Ms Gibson in a dark-coloured Mazda before the carjacking. The Nissan Cube stolen from Ms Gibson belonged to her boyfriend.
In her opening address, prosecutor Cashena Thompson called the case one of “crime and greed”.
Ms Thompson alleged the accused sold the vehicle to a man called Micheal McCartney. She said the rightful owner later spotted the vehicle on the road and used his spare key to retrieve it before taking it to a police station.
Detective Corporal Takeia Harvey, of crime scene investigations, said she spoke with Detective Corporal 4017 Demeritte, an investigator, and received certain information on August 9, 2022.
She said she went to the CSI parking lot, where she saw a dark-coloured vehicle.
DC Harvey said she examined a four-door purple Mazda Verisa with its ignition intact. She photographed and processed the vehicle, recovered fingerprints from it and submitted them to Sergeant Sawyer of the fingerprint section.
She said she also saw licence plate AK7931 inside the vehicle.
Under cross-examination by defence attorney Philip Hilton, DC Harvey said she did not learn the results of the fingerprint analysis.
She also said she did not obtain the vehicle’s VIN number.
DC Harvey said she did not investigate the vehicle’s ownership because that did not fall under her remit as a crime scene officer. She said she was not the investigator.
Under questioning from defence attorney Miranda Adderley, she said it was the investigator’s job to obtain the fingerprint results.
Detective Corporal Leroy Strachan said he spoke to DC Demeritte at 3.30pm on August 6, 2022, about a vehicle involved in an armed robbery.
He said he photographed a brown Nissan Cube in the CSI parking lot.
While reviewing a photograph of the vehicle, DC Strachan said the front licence plate read AW8875. However, he said the licence plate and registration disc did not match, as the disc read AX5709.
He said a metal plate initially covered the VIN number. Although the number was partially defaced, he said it read Z12-218154.
DC Strachan told Mr Hilton he was not instructed to photograph a Mazda.
He said he did not know who owned the Nissan.
He also agreed with Mr Hilton that, to his knowledge, anyone could have placed the metal plate on the vehicle.
DC Strachan told Ms Adderley that DC Demeritte was the investigator.
Under questioning, the officer said he did not think it was necessary to take fingerprints from the vehicle. However, he said that although he followed the investigator’s instructions, he could have suggested that fingerprints be lifted because they may have had evidential value.
DC Strachan said he did not think the Nissan had a rear licence plate.
Rashied Edgecombe also appeared for the prosecution.
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