A Supreme Court jury on Monday convicted a man of murder, but was unable to reach a verdict regarding his co-accused.
Prosecutors alleged that Clarence Smith Jr. and Thorne Duncan were jointly responsible for the April 17, 2012 shooting death of ex-convict Khanaochi Knowles at Rock Crusher Road. After two hours of deliberation, the jury convicted Smith but was deadlocked in relation to Duncan.
According to the evidence, Knowles was standing in front of a shop on Rock Crusher Road smoking a cigarette around 8:20 p.m. when two armed men wearing hooded jackets ambushed him, shooting him 16 times.
Knowles ran into the store and tried to shut the door behind him as the assailants pursued him. There were no eyewitnesses to the shooting; however, the incident was captured on the store's surveillance camera.
After viewing the footage, Knowles' girlfriend, Latavia Paul, and Sergeant 2586 Jamaal Evans, identified Smith and Duncan. Paul picked out both men on separate identification parades. Paul claimed that she knew Duncan for about six years prior to the incident and she knew Smith for a year. Evans said he became familiar with both men during his policing duties.
Paul claimed that she made a purchase at the store about 10 minutes prior to the shooting. She said she saw Smith and Duncan in a neighboring yard as she left. Paul said she heard three gunshots and later saw Knowles on the ground. Police collected surveillance footage and made still photos.
Defense lawyers Murrio Ducille, for Smith, and Roberto Reckley, for Duncan, said the images were not of sufficient clarity to make a positive identification.
Kendra Kelly, the prosecutor, had a different view of the footage. In his summation to the jury, Justice Roy Jones said that it was easy to be mistaken in identification. He said that the jury had the ability to compare the images and the defendants to determine if there were any similarities or dissimilarities in their features.
Ducille requested a social inquiry report to assist the court in the penalty phase of the trial, which will take place on July 1.
As for Duncan, he returns to court on June 19 for a date for his retrial to be fixed.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
