During the summary of his reasons for finding the defendant not guilty of the charges in relation to the shooting of Andy Barnes, Justice Richard Williams said though he had to take into account Barnes’ previous convictions when assessing his credibility, “as he is no stranger to the court” he still had to afford him the same consideration of any other person.
“I think not of his previous convictions,” Justice Williams said.
He said what he was concerned with was the eyewitness testimony of both the victim and other witnesses, which he said were inconsistent.
Justice Williams said the fact that Barnes’ identification of Manderson as the shooter was made under sudden and traumatic circumstances and lasted only seconds led him to the conclusion that Barnes’ evidence alone was not strong enough.
He added that video tape evidence from CCTV taken outside Kelly’s Bar in West Bay, where the incident occurred in June 2010, was also in conflict with the victim’s evidence. The judge said the first statement the victim gave to police was different from his evidence in court.
The judge cited the evidence of another witness, who said he saw the accused riding a bicycle and described him to be wearing different clothing than that recounted by Barnes.
Another reason Justice Williams said he could not convict Manderson of any of the charges was that the particle of what the prosecution said was gunshot residue was too minute and could have been the result of cross-contamination, as the arresting officers handled firearms and the defendant was transported in a police vehicle, which could have also been contaminated. He said there were no quality control measures taken at the police station where the swabs were taken and contamination could have also happened there.
In all, five shots were said to be fired on the evening of 24 June, 2010.
Justice Williams said even though there is some “in-specificity regarding testimony by Manderson’s alibis, his first concern was the eyewitness accounts and false alibis were not an issue if identification had not been proven.
He said a mobile phone linked to Manderson was consistent with
his accounts of his whereabouts.
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