Murder charges against a Sandys man were today dismissed by Puisne Judge Shade Subair Williams, after investigative blunders gave Crown prosecutor Carrington Mahoney no option but to invoke a motion of nolle prosequi in the case of Khalif Williams.
Williams had been accused of the murder of Quan-Marley Lowe, as a result of an attack that took place near the junction of Scott’s Hill and Cricket Lane, Sandys on June 21, 2021, which resulted in the death of the father of two.
However, with the prosecution finally realising that it had erred in charging Williams, the charges were dropped and the case dismissed.
Following the handing down of the verdict TNN spoke to Williams’ lawyer, Charles Richardson, who further explained the situation as one where the police and prosecution blundered badly.
“The crown absolutely got it wrong,” said Richardson. “Because on my review of the evidence, once it was finally all served and a lot of it was served late it was clear to me that the Crown’s primary witness was actually the perpetrator, who seemed to have caused the injuries that resulted in the young man’s death.
“And once that was pointed out to them and the individual, who claims to have been the primary witness, who I now say is very likely the actual perpetrator.
“Once that was brought to their attention and he refused to come and give evidence they threw the entire case away.
“But they should have charged this individual from the beginning.
Richardson highlighted the case against Williams to have been a prime example of the police failing to execute due diligence in their investigation, with the result being a young man having his life placed in limbo for an extended period.
“That happens when the police make a rush to judgement and are so anxious to close a case that they take any witnesses evidence and run with it without fact checking it,” continued Richardson. “Thing’s like this going behind and checking a person’s credibility, crossing al the ‘T’s’ and dotting all the ‘I’s’ .
“If they would have done that they would have realised they had charged the wrong man from the beginning.
“You have a man who has been on bail for two years. He’s called me on some days, while experiencing mental breakdowns, because of his state of non-belief that he’s been accused of this.
“Now they finally nolle (prosequi) and send him out the door without even saying, ‘sorry’.
Asked if there was any recourse for Mr Williams for his having been victimised via his having been dragged through the courts as an innocent man Richardson said there was no remedy for his pain and suffering.
“No, he gets sent home without an apology … see you later,” said Richardson. “I feel for the family of the deceased, because the person who really appears to have been responsible for causing that man’s death has had no charges brought against him and there really should be.
“So, that family actually needs to press for closure. They don’t have closure right now and I feel for them, but it wasn’t my client.”
Any content which is considered unsuitable, unlawful, or offensive, includes personal details, advertises or promotes products, services or websites, or repeats previous comments will be removed.
User comments posted on this website are solely the views and opinions of the comment writer and are not a representation of or reflection of the opinions of TNN or its staff.
TNN reserves the right to remove, edit or censor any comments.
TNN accepts no liability and will not be held accountable for the comments made by users.