St Catherine man freed after ID evidence in case

Barbara Gayle, Justice Coordinator



KINGSTON, Jamaica:

After a year behind bars, St Catherine resident, 20-year-old, Leonardo Pierce, has been freed of charges of robbery with aggravation, wounding with intent and illegal possession of firearm.



Pierce was accused of robbing a man of seven boxes of lunch valued at $25,900 in cash and a cellphone.



He was arrested following the alleged August 22, 2013 incident.



Pierce’s attorney, Melrose Reid, had argued that the identification evidence was weak and that there were irregularities in the conduct of the identification parade.



The complainant had testified that the ID parade was held after he identified the phone in Pierce’s presence at the police station.



However, the police had told the court that the ID parade was held before the phone was identified by the complainant.



The attorney argued that the ID parade should have been held before the complaint identified the phone.



Justice Georgiana Fraser said there was a difficulty with the ID evidence and that there were other inconsistencies in the case and freed Pierce.



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