Burglary accused denies, “doesn’t recall” admissions

The accused in the July 16, 2021, aggravated burglary of Savings Plus Supermarket, Rock Dundo, St Michael told the Supreme Court 4A on Monday that he either did not make or could not recall the statements attributed to him in the lead investigator’s report.

As the trial of Kadeem Onan Vaughan got underway, seven police witnesses testified before the nine-member jury and Madam Justice Wanda Blair.

The 28-year-old of Literary Row, St Michael is charged with entering the supermarket as a trespasser and stealing $1 436.85 and a $55 cash pan, and at the time, he had offensive weapons, namely a firearm and a cutlass.

Reading from his report of the incident, Sergeant Terry Hurdle, who headed the investigation, said that in a taped interview with the police, Vaughan had admitted to being involved in the burglary.

The accused, who is representing himself in the trial, objected to this, saying, “I do not recall making that statement.”

He also told the court that he had never indicated that the clothing recovered from a warehouse in Grazettes was his.

Hurdle continued, “I showed the suspect one red and white handled cutlass which was received from Sergeant Griffith and asked him what he could say about it and cautioned him. He said… ‘this is the cutlass I left home with that I gave to Mike when we were in the supermarket’.”

“I do not recall making that statement in the police station,” Vaughan said.

The police officer stated that when presented with the firearm, the accused had said, ‘this is the firearm that I got from Mike I went in the supermarket with, and I gave it back to him after we left there.”

“Objections again, Ma’am, on the same grounds. I did not make that statement,” the accused interjected.

Later in his evidence, the policeman presented Vaughan’s video interview to the jury.

Other officers giving evidence were Police Constables Roger Barrow, Kyle Hinds, Elton Prescott and Amos Devonish, along with Acting Sergeant Dwayne Collymore and Sergeant Christopher Griffith.

In her opening statement, State Counsel Maya Kellman, who, along with the Senior State Counsel Joyann Catwell is prosecuting the matter, told the jury to pay attention to everything that was happening in court and “not to blogs” and to make their decisions based on that.

“After listening to the witnesses in this courtroom, whether in the dock or the witness stand, you must make your decision. And it has to be based not on sympathy, not on biases or conjecture…. I implore you to actively listen and only to what is happening in the courtroom,” she urged.

The trial continues on Tuesday.