Defence corners State witness

The jury in the  Barataria murder trial had front row seats yesterday to a litany of inconsistencies in the evidence of the prosecution’s key witness, Kerry Joseph. Joseph, the State’s main witness against five men charged with the murder of Barataria handyman Roger Alexander, admitted under cross-examination by defence attorney Pamela Elder SC, that he lied about certain things he had attributed to accused Garvin Sookram, the man whom he said shot Alexander. Garvin Sookram aka “Bean,” John Wayne Alleyne aka “Bumbles,” Junior Sookram aka “Country,” Hassan Sanchez and Ronald Gaskin aka “Doom,” are before Justice Rajendra Narine charged with the murder of Alexander, aka “One Arm,” on August 19, 2000 in Barataria. Joseph, 23, and the  five accused had chased and shot Alexander four times in the back. Joseph was given immunity from prosecution for his testimony against the others.

Several areas of Joseph’s testimony on the witness stand on Monday were different from what he told the police in his statement on August 24, 2000 and in his statutory declaration the following day, August 25. Elder, who started her cross-examination yesterday, systematically began tearing into the credibility of Joseph’s evidence. He could not explain his several inconsistencies and usually blamed Sgt David Abraham, the police complainant in the matter.  One of his common responses was, “what I saw is what I tell the police... I tell the police that, I don’t know why they did not write it.” On other occasions when cornered about inconsistencies he would reply to Elder, “If you say so.”

Joseph also admitted that he had lied when he told the police that he had talked to some girls after they dumped Alexander’s body in the Barataria recreation ground. The Joseph just went on and on with inconsistencies. Garvin Sookram is being defended by Pamela Elder SC and Owen Hinds Jr; John Wayne  Alleyne by Osbourne Charles and Elvis O’Connor; Junior Sookram by Sean Cazabon and Dawn Mohan; Hassan Sanchez by Keith Scotland and Michelle Solomon, and Ronald Gaskin by Margaret Rose and Richard Mason. The State is being represented by former deputy DPP Rangee Dolsingh SC and senior prosecutor Jeron Joseph. Hearing continues today.