TWO MEN have been freed of the murder of Oneil Donaldson, a labourer of 8 Unity Lane, Kingston 11, who was shot and killed at his house on October 15, 2000.
Rudolph Lightbourne, 22, and Albert Richards, 23, potters of Olympic Gardens, Kingston 11, were freed after Justice Gloria Smith upheld no-case submissions by attorneys-at-law Linda Wright and Leroy Equiano that the identification evidence was very weak.
Evidence was given at the trial in the Home Circuit Court that three men, including the two accused, went to Donaldson's home on October 15, 2000. Donaldson ran into the house when he saw the men coming into his yard.
The eyewitness could not be found and his statement was read to the jury. The witness said he peeped through a zinc fence and saw Lightbourne, who was also called 'Cragie', and Richards, also called 'Dukie', firing several shots at Donaldson who was lying face down on the floor. The third man kept watch outside the door.
Policemen who went to the murder scene testified that they saw several gunshot wounds to Donaldson's back and they picked up spent shells and warheads in the house.
Daniel Wray, ballistics expert, said the bullets found at the scene and those taken from the body of the deceased came from three different firearms.
After the Crown closed its case, the defence lawyers made no-case submissions on the grounds that identification was a live issue in the case. They argued that cross-examination of the eyewitness was vital to the case because the witness said he was bending down and looking over a zinc fence which the police said was five to six feet high. The lawyers said the lighting at the time of the incident would be an important factor in the case. They also submitted that the medical evidence and the evidence of the policemen did not support the evidence of the witness in relation to the wounds that were found on the body.
The judge upheld the no-case submissions and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty, freeing the two men.
