Prosecution withdraws case against murder accused

Viv Simon, previously accused of the 2016 shooting murder of a 75-year-old man, walked away from the High Court this Wednesday a free man, following the prosecution’s decision to discontinue the case.

Simon was 36 years old when he was charged with causing the death of Errol Sutton, who was shot to death in Stubbs in 2016.

Since being arrested and charged that year, the accused man has been the subject of a preliminary inquiry at the lower court, and was then sent to the High Court to plea and stand trial for the offences of murder and possession of a firearm with intent.

Errol Sutton (deceased)

Because persons accused of murder do not under normal circumstances receive bail, Simon has been on remand, in prison, since 2016.

This Tuesday, December 3, the trial against him finally began, with Justice Brian Cottle presiding, crown counsel Rose-Ann Richardson prosecuting, and defense attorney Ronald Marks defending.
The jury heard evidence from six prosecution witnesses before the crown chose to enter a nolle prosequi in relation to the case.

The case for the crown was that there was an ongoing land dispute between Sutton and another family. The disputing parties had lands, located in Stubbs, which were sharing boundaries.

On October 11, 2016, the day he died, Sutton went to clear the land, and was accompanied by his great nephew. While they were there, Simon and another, named ‘Ziggy’ came onto the land with cutlasses. Simon is said to have looked on while his companion attacked Sutton. Sutton was wounded from this encounter, and went to the police to report the alleged incident. He went to the doctor, and on his way back to the police station, he was met by his niece. The two were walking, and apparently passing the house of ‘Ziggy’, at which time Sutton was saying that he can’t believe they attacked him, and he told his niece that he was going to follow the matter up with the police. The police were told that what happened after this was that ‘Ziggy’ handed a gun to Simon, and Simon approached Sutton, and shot him three times.

Sutton died before reaching a nearby clinic, succumbing to gunshot wounds to his face, shoulder, and left chest.

However, it is said that different and contradictory accounts of evidence was given by the main prosecution witness in the case. She had first given the police a statement claiming that the gunman had a jersey over his face. However, during the preliminary inquiry she said that assailant was wearing no mask, which prompted her to say to him “don’t bother run, I done see you.”The witness also said that she cried out. However, those nearby testified that they heard her screams, but that she never called a name.

Furthermore, this eye witness died from natural causes on June 19 this year. Therefore, her evidence could only be read in court, and could not be tested through cross examination by the defense.

“It is the right and honourable thing for the prosecutor to do when they have a case that is so fundamentally weak,” attorney Marks stated this Wednesday, after his client was freed.

Coupled with the fact that the witness was deceased, and incapable of being cross examined, there were “a lot of inconsistent statements made by the deceased witness and that in itself would make it unsafe to put a case like that to the jury,” the lawyer informed.

The lawyer who has been with the case since the beginning, told SEARCHLIGHT, “justice demands that you don’t persecute.”

“You supposed to be a prosecutor, not a persecutor,” he noted, “…So if you don’t have sufficient evidence, as it was in this case, they(the crown) would have to do that.”

As for his client, the lawyer disclosed, “He’s elated…He’s been there (prison) since 2016 and he’s always maintained his innocence….As you would expect he’s a very happy fella today,” he ended.