-Sum-up,verdict set for Wednesday

THE retrial for Quaison Jones, called ‘Blondie’, came to a close on Monday morning and the court was adjourned until Wednesday for the summing up of the case, and possible verdict.
The now 54-year-old man was sentenced to 57 years imprisonment by Justice Navindra Singh back in 2014, after a jury found him guilty of murdering his co-worker, Marlon Greene.

Jones, who maintains that he is innocent of the crime, appealed his sentence and was granted a retrial.
According to reports, Greene had been a fish cleaner attached to the Meadow Bank Wharf Fish Cleaners, and his killing on Monday 17th January, 2011, allegedly followed an argument relating to an old story.

On the day in question, at about 09:00hrs, five other fish cleaners were attracted by a ‘hollering.’ They said they ran to the scene and saw “Blondie over Marlon cuffing away at him.”

According to them, when they got close enough, they noticed that ‘Blondie’ had a knife in his hand, and what appeared to be blood stains were visible on the blade.
The witnesses observed that Marlon was bleeding from a wound to the neck, and they all concluded that Blondie had been stabbing away, instead of cuffing away at Marlon as they had first thought.

Businessman Stephen Vieira, whose statement was used as the evidence-in-chief in the trial, testified earlier this month. He told the court that in January 2011, he was living with his family at Meadowbank Wharf koker, and related that he knows the accused and knew the deceased.

The witness identified the accused, seated in the box, and said that on the day in question, he was at home when he heard a noise and decided to inquire what was happening.
Vieira said he saw both the deceased and the accused ‘squaring up to fight’, and recalled seeing ‘Blondie’ in a ‘cuffing’ motion over the deceased, who had fallen to the ground.
He stated that he shouted at them to stop and went to get a closer look; he then realised that the ‘cuffing motion’ he saw, was the accused ‘boring’ the deceased with a knife he had in his hand.

The witness said he, along with others, picked up the injured Greene, who was bleeding from a wound to the neck, and took him in his bus to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Several other witnesses testified, all of which confirmed Vieira’s story. The other witnesses, who were all fishermen and were at the scene of the crime, said they saw ‘Blondie’ stabbing Greene.

However, under cross-examination by defence attorney Ronald Birch-Smith, it was highlighted that the witnesses are all friends of the deceased, and there is a possibility that they could have ‘cooked-up’ their story.

The suggestion was however denied by the witnesses.
On Wednesday February 27th, Justice James Bovell-Drakes will sum up the retrial, and after the jury’s deliberation, the verdict will be announced.