Hung jury in murder trial, Dixon to be retried

(CNS): After more than two days of deliberation, the seven women and five men of the jury in the trial of Javon James Dixon (29) for the murder of Jovin Omar Fuentes (32) confirmed Tuesday that they were unable to reach a verdict. Justice Cheryll Richards dismissed the jurors after they sent a final note that they were at a stalemate and there was no prospect that they would reach either a unanimous verdict on the murder charge or a majority verdict on an alternative of manslaughter.

Once the jury was discharged, defence lawyer Amelia Fosuhene requested a bail application for her client, who has been on remand since the shooting last July, and the crown made an application for a date for a retrial. The court fixed a bail application to be heard next week and the new trial was set for August.

Dixon was accused of murdering Fuentes after a chance encounter on the road in Bodden Town at around 5pm on the evening of 1 July. The two men had argued over a small debt, and according to four of Fuentes’ family members, Dixon pulled a gun and shot their nephew during that fight.

Dixon, however, denied he was the killer. The one-time friend of Fuentes told police that he was at the scene and had argued with Fuentes, who was very angry when he had casually asked about when he was going to pay a debt of $175. But he claimed that the situation between them had been defused by one of the uncles and so Dixon returned to his car.

Dixon said he was giving a ride to a casual acquaintance named “Blacks” and that it was this man who pulled a gun and shot Fuentes. Dixon claimed he panicked and drove off.

Offering very little information relating to the mystery man, Dixon told the police he did not really know much about him. However, all four of Fuentes’ uncles and aunts who gave evidence during the trial said they had not seen anyone else in Dixon’s car and they were certain that it was Dixon who killed Fuentes.

But their evidence was contradictory in parts, with each of the family members having varying recollections of the chain of events and who was standing where and what happened when in those few moments before Fuentes was gunned down and killed on the street. All of them also claimed that Fuentes was unarmed.

During the trial, the jury saw CCTV footage showing that Fuentes was waving about what could have been a machete during his argument with Dixon. A machete was also found in Fuentes’ car. Dixon had also told the police that Fuentes had a machete when he got out of his car and that he was very angry and made threats towards him.

But Dixon did not claim that he killed Fuentes because he was provoked or in self-defence as he insisted the murderer was Blacks.

During their deliberations, the jury asked a number of questions and sought guidance from the judge, but despite their efforts, they were unable to agree.