Lawyer requests ballistics expert in gun case

Defence lawyer Grant Connell says he has penned a letter to the Commissioner of Police, requesting that a ballistics expert from the police force be summoned to testify on behalf of the defence, in a gun case.

Connell represents Randy Shallow and Friekesha Douglas, a Lowmans Hill couple charged with having a number of firearms and ammunition in their possession on January 18.

The charge is that during a raid at the couple’s Lowmans Leeward home, police recovered a submachine gun (SMG), a Glock 40 pistol and a .38 revolver, an AK47 magazine with one round of AK47 ammunition, 14 rounds of Glock 40 ammunition and 45 rounds of 9 mm – all without a licence.

When Shallow and Douglas last appeared before Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne-Matthias at the Serious Offences Court, Connell pointed out that of the 13 exhibits before the court, the defence has a problem with seven and added that the evidence presented is “disturbing”.

He claimed that the gun labelled as a Glock before the court is not a Glock and asked for an adjournment to seek a firearms expert.

However, on Wednesday, April 26, 2017, when the couple reappeared before the court, Connell said his clients were not able to afford a foreign ballistics expert.

He told the court that he instead penned a letter to the Commissioner of Police requesting that a ballistics expert testify on behalf of the couple. He suggested one Corporal Gibson.

Connell said the defence also could not proceed because a document they asked to be disclosed has not yet been disclosed.

The defence lawyer asked for an adjournment and also for the court’s assistance in summoning certain witnesses.

His application was granted and the matter was adjourned to May 2. (AS)