Four day struggle to find jurors for bank case
(CNS): After an almost four day long selection process, eight women and four men were finally sworn in just before noon on Thursday to try the four men accused of the daylight bank robbery at the CNB Buckingham Square branch in June 2012. A combination of strict criteria eliminating bank workers of any kind and those with connections to law enforcement, as well as any witnesses or defendants, strained the jury pool to its limits.
However, with 12 jurors now impanelled and following closed-door pre-trial discussions, the crown opened its case against David Tamasa, Rennie Cole, George Mignott and Andre Burton Friday. The prosecution says that these four men were part of a gang of armed masked robbers that executed the daylight heist, which was Cayman and the region’s largest bank robbery to date, and made off with over half a million dollars.
The men were caught after the foiled getaway led police to the home of Marlon Dillon, who, following his arrest, named several other people whom he said were his co-robbers. During his time in custody Dillon also revealed the details and alleged perpetrators in other crimes and was labelled a ‘supergrass’ as a result.
Having admitted his own part in the robbery of Cayman National, Dillon was convicted of robbery and possession of an unlicensed firearm but because of his status as a sensitive witness and no proper facilities in Grand Cayman to accommodate informants, Dillon served almost three years in a tiny cell at George Town police station in conditions described by numerous official reports as not fit for human habitation.
He was released from jail at the end of last year but he is expected to return to the witness stand next week to testify, as the crown’s case against the four men on trial is almost entirely dependent on his evidence.
The case is scheduled to continue on Monday in Grand Court One with Cayman’s newest member of the bench, Justice Ingrid Mangatal, presiding.
