Crown concludes evidence in murder trial

Prosecutor Andrew Radcliffe closed the Crown’s case against Raziel Jeffers on Friday afternoon, the ninth day of Jeffers’ trial for the 2009 murder of Marcus Leon Ebanks and four charges of attempted murder from the same shooting incident. 

Defence attorney Peter Champagnie then told Justice Charles Quin that he “would wish to address the court on Monday on matters concerning law”. After the adjournment, he confirmed that is what lawyers say when they intend to argue there is no case for the defendant to answer. 

Of the five witnesses who were at the scene of the shooting, a yard off Bonaventure Road in West Bay on the evening of 8 July, 2009, only Adryan Powell named Jeffers as one of two armed persons who came into the yard. 

Adryan, who was 14 at the time, is paralysed from the waist down as a result of bullet wounds. 

On Friday, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Trevor Ward read into the record evidence accepted by the defence. One item was the opinion of a forensic toxicologist about the effect of medication Adryan was being given at the time he made his first statements to police. 

He said the drugs administered to Adryan do not have any hallucinatory or mind-altering effect. The drugs Adryan received 8-11 July, 2009, may have contributed to him being in a drowsy state, but that could also arise from lack of normal sleep.  

“The account of a sleepy or drowsy individual may affect the reliability of that account,” the expert said, but the extent to which Adryan was sleepy would have to be assessed by people who observed him at the relevant time. 

Other expert evidence included that of Allen Greenspan, who analysed the various projectiles, bullet casings and fragments recovered from the yard and walls of the house. He identified some as .38- and others as .45-calibre, but from different markings on the .38 projectiles, he concluded at least three different firearms were used, with a maximum of four. 

Gunshot residue expert Michael Martinez told the court, via video link, that he found two microscopic particles on a sticky stub that was used to check the surface of an item, which a local police officer identified as a pack of Rizla cigarette papers from Jeffers’ pocket.  

Mr. Champagnie asked him about test results for other of Jeffers’ items, such as a wallet, phone and clothing. Mr. Martinez said no gunshot residue was detected. He said he was also given samplings from a motor car and no gunshot residue was detected. 

The court heard evidence about cell phones from intelligence analyst Joanne Woods. She submitted charts and maps to show activity involving two cell phones attributed to Jeffers. She also made it clear that she could not say who was making or receiving the calls. Her evidence included such information as the number making the call, the number receiving the call, the time and duration of the call, and the approximate locality of the phone according to the coordinates of the various cell phone masts around Grand Cayman. 

For example, records indicated that one phone attributed to Jeffers was tracked from West Bay at 5.20pm down to George Town at 6.08pm and back up to West Bay by 6.57pm. One of the phones attributed to him was said to be near the shooting scene at 7.21pm. Ms Woods noted that 911 received a call reporting the shooting at 7.44pm. 

She said there were gaps in activity for the phones attributed to Jeffers. One phone gap was from 6.52pm to 8.12pm. The other was from 7.21pm to 8.09pm. The cell phones also moved after the murder. 

The last witness to give evidence in person was Detective Superintendent Kurt Walton, who was in charge of the investigation. Mr. Champagnie asked him about the statement he had taken from Adryan in which the teen named Jeffers as one of the assailants. Mr. Walton said he was satisfied the young man was telling the truth. 

The defence attorney wondered why Jeffers was released from custody days after the shooting and not arrested until May 2010. Mr. Walton said his duty was to take the statement and turn it over to the Legal Department.  

“That is not for me to determine – whether what is in the statement is sufficient,” he said. 

Mr. Walton was also asked about Megan Martinez, the young woman who gave evidence that Jeffers had told her he shot Marcus Ebanks, but it had been a mistake because he meant to shoot José Sanchez, another of the young men in the yard. 

The officer said he had spoken with her; the question of duress was never raised and she never gave any hint that she was under duress.