A murder trial recessed early after a prosecution witness disclosed information that appeared to come as a surprise to the defense.
Romona Farquharson, who represents the accused, Phillip McCartney, seemed shocked when Katrina Rolle said that she had picked out a man on an identification parade during investigations into the August 13, 2010 murder of Chrishanda Swain.
Farquharson was cross-examining Rolle when she mentioned the identification parade.  Farquharson immediately asked  Justice Bernard Turner to hold private discussions in the absence of the jury after the disclosure.
Rolle has never mentioned an identification parade and neither was she asked about one during her examination in chief by the prosecutor Jillian Williams. Rolle did not say who she picked out.
Turner adjourned the trial until Monday.
Prosecutors allege that McCartney killed Swain because she refused to have sex with him.
Before the adjournment Rolle testified about the last time she saw Swain, who was her cousin, alive. She told the court that a man offered Rolle, Swain and another cousin, Lekeisha Lockhart, a ride as they were walking home from the "Yardie" dance on Soldier Road.
Rolle said she did not know the man, but it seemed that Swain did.
Rolle said the man dropped her and Lockhart off at her home in Pinewood Gardens and he was supposed to take Swain to her home, which is about a seven to 10 minute walk away.
However, Swain never made it home. She was found with extensive injuries to the face and torso on a track road off Faith Avenue.
Rolle said she identified a gray Mitsubishi Mirage during a vehicle lineup at the Central Detective Unit. According to Rolle, she observed several distinctive characteristics about the car during the 10 minute ride home. She said there was a horn on the steering wheel, marks around the CD player and the window tints had a wave like pattern.
However, Farquharson noted that Rolle had made no mention of these identifying features when she first spoke to police. Rolle agreed that no peculiarities about the car were mentioned in the statement after she was given an opportunity to review it.
Despite this, she maintained that police did not include the information in the statement although she told them. Rolle told Farquharson that she had an opportunity to read and make corrections to the statement.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian