Trial began on Monday for three men accused of murdering Alrick Peddie on the afternoon of 24 March 2010 in West Bay.
Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryll Richards said the Crown’s case is that Roger Deward Bush, Jose Guadalupe Sanchez and Robert Aaron Crawford were involved in a joint enterprise to shoot and kill Mr. Peddie, also known as Bling.
She told Justice Karl Harrison, who is hearing the matter without a jury, that a post mortem examination showed cause of death as multiple gunshot wounds, nine in all. For eight of the nine wounds, the pathway was from back to front.
Ms Richards also explained the Crown would not be putting forward any evidence to establish a motive for the killing. She accepted the main issue in the case would be the correctness of the identification made by witness Michael Conrad Ebanks.
Mr. Ebanks began giving his evidence Monday afternoon and was scheduled to be questioned by defence attorneys on Tuesday.
He said he was talking with Mr. Peddie outside a relative’s house on Willie Farrington Drive around 3pm. He noticed a red Honda Civic hatchback with tint and black donut rims waiting to pull into the yard. Then it came in and stopped 12 to 15 feet from him.
Through the front windshield he notice Deward was driving, Jose was in the front passenger seat and J.R. [Mr. Crawford] was in the back seat. He said Jose wore shades and a shirt covering his ears and hair, but not his face.
Mr. Ebanks said he had known each of the men 10 years or more; on that afternoon he saw them for 10 to 15 seconds.
He told the court he said something to Mr. Peddie and when the car doors began to open, he ran. Seconds after he started running he heard sounds like gun shots, some loud and some soft. He thought he heard six or seven shots. When he didn’t hear any more, he walked quickly back to check on his friend.
Mr. Peddie was lying on the ground, with holes in his chest and blood coming out of his mouth. Two men he knew were trying to help the wounded man. The red car and its occupants were gone.
Mr. Bush is represented by Attorneys Timothy Spencer and Nicola Moore; Mr. Sanchez by Orlando Pownall and James Buchanan; Mr. Crawford by Margeta Facey-Clarke and Trevor Burke.
Crown Counsel Candia James is assisting Ms Richards.
The trial had been scheduled to start last week, but could not because of other court fixtures. Justice Harrison agreed to make up time by starting each day at 9am instead of 10am, and sitting until 5pm. All parties have agreed to continue the trial on the Constitution Day holiday, 4 July, if deemed necessary.
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