Defendant walks free in gun violence case

(CNS): A visiting Grand Court judge directed a jury to acquit Leshawn Forrester on assault charges after he found that the crown had not presented sufficient evidence to the court that would allow a jury to convict him of a crime. Forrester was one of five defendants charged with a list of crimes relating to a shooting outside the Fete Nightclub in February, in which one man was attacked and shot and a second was pistol whipped and shot at. Forrester had been accused of being one of several people involved in the violence, kicking and punching Carlney Campbell after he was pushed to the ground by the gang.

But Justice Roger Chapple told the jury Friday, after the crown had closed its case earlier in the week and the lawyers had engaged in legal arguments, that there was not enough evidence to support the one charge against Forrester for causing grievous bodily harm. He told the jury to enter a not guilty verdict before he released the 23-year-old man from the dock, as he said there was no case for him to answer.

Although other adjustments have been made to some of the counts against the remaining four defendants, who face various charges from attempted murder to possession of an unlicensed firearm, the case against them continues.

Tashika Mothen was the first of the group to begin giving evidence on Friday, after her husband declined to take the stand. Mothen was charged with threats to kill, attempted murder, GBH and possession of the gun. However, the judge has also indicated that there is no case for her to answer regarding possession of that weapon as the crown’s case is that the weapon passed from her husband, Malik Mothen, to Kashwayne Hewitt, who has confessed to having the gun in his possession from the night in question until it was discovered at his girlfriend’s home several days later in West Bay. Prosecutors have presented no evidence that Tashika Mothen ever touched the Colt 45 that was used in the violent incident.

Mothen is accused of starting an argument with Daniel Bennett, which ended up in the violence against him and his cousin Campbell, because, according to the crown’s case, she believed that a close friend of Bennett, Todd Bowen, was one of two men who shot her in March 2015 and two other women when they were at an after-hours session at Jah ‘T’s in McField Square.

The case continues.