Guns linked to 1999 murder scene, court hears

Thu, Jul 18th 2013, 09:49 AM

Two guns collected following the fatal shooting of Constable Jimmy Ambrose in 1999 were linked to the crime scene through ballistic testing, a Supreme Court Jury heard yesterday.

Firearms examiner Inspector Earl Thompson gave the evidence during his testimony in the murder retrial of Stephen Stubbs, Andrew Davis and Clinton Evans.

Ambrose was fatally shot while on duty at the now-closed Club Rock Disco in March 1999.

The defendants have denied the murder charge at their trial before Justice Roy Jones.

Thompson tendered the ballistics report prepared by Corporal Terrance Higgs regarding a .357 Desert Eagle pistol that was allegedly recovered near Evans and a .45 pistol that was allegedly retrieved from underneath a car in the parking lot of the Club Rock Disco.

Witnesses claimed that they had seen Stubbs place the gun under the vehicle before he fled. No firearm was retrieved from Davis, who was arrested at the scene.

Thompson testified that Higgs, who no longer lives in The Bahamas, found that spent casings found at the club were fired from the submitted firearms.

During cross-examination by Murrio Ducille, who represents Stubbs, Thompson agreed that the examiner could not say if the exhibits were tampered with before they were submitted for testing.

He also conceded that the examination was done by a police officer and the victim in the case was a policeman. Although crime scene officers submitted the suspects' clothing for testing of gunpowder residue, Thompson said the substance is rarely found on a shooter's clothes.

According to Thompson, residue from the gun's primer would likely be detected on a shooter's hand. However, he said taking swabs from a suspected shooter's hands as was done in 1999 was not a reliable method in determining if the person had fired a gun.

Asked if he knew of fingerprints being found on a firearm, Thompson said the prints would usually be lifted from the magazine. He agreed that those pistols carried magazines.

In previous testimony, the court heard that no prints were found on either weapon. The case continues today. Vinette Graham-Allen, the director of public prosecutions, and Ambrose Armbrister are the prosecutors.

Ian Cargill represents Davis, and Romona Farquharson appears for Evans.

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