By George Barclay

A MIXED jury at the Demerara Assizes on Monday found 25-year- old Stacey James not guilty of attempted murder and wounding committed on Eunita Mendonca.The evidence for the prosecution was that James, who bore tattooed arms, was told by the victim, Eunita Mendonca, that the latter’s boyfriend had chastised her, to which James replied: “Without licks life is not sweet”.

The jury was told about a cuss-story between two young women which ended with one of them facing a two-count indictment for attempted murder. The incident took place on 21st January, 2007 at Anira Street, Queenstown.

Stacey James was charged with wounding Eunita Mendonca with intent to cause her grievous bodily harm or to maim, disfigure or disable her.

Police Sergeant Lilian Scotland, now attached to the Mackenzie Police Station, testified that she was on duty at the Alberttown Police Station in 2007 when she assisted in the investigations.

She recalled receiving a report about wounding involving the accused and the victim, Mendonca.
Scotland said the two young women were subjected to a confrontation at the Station.

In the presence of the accused, Mendonca repeated her complaint, accusing James of cursing her and stabbing her in the chest.

According to Scotland, James said that during a row between them, Mendonca had struck her on the head and she felt that she was going to fall. Therefore, she retaliated by picking up something to defend herself.

Mendonca was stabbed in the chest and spent some days in hospital.
And later in a caution statement to the police, the accused admitted that she was sorry for what happened on that day.

Following the summing up of the evidence by the judge on Monday, the jury, after deliberating for over two hours, returned with unanimous verdicts of not guilty on both counts.

Before discharging the accused, Justice Jo-Ann Barlow noted the unfortunate sentence in the evidence that referred to “licks as sweet” and advised her to let the jury’s verdict be a guide to her in the future; for, she said, had the victim died, James might have been charged with murder.

The judge thanked the jury for its verdict, since its members had to decide which of the parties’ allegations to believe.

State counsel Miss Tuanna Hardy conducted the case on behalf of the prosecution. Mr. James Bond, Attorney-at-law represented the defence.