Ramoon evades attempted murder rap for GBH
(CNS): The 21-year-old George Town man charged with the attempted murder of Andrew Lopez has been found not guilty of trying to kill him but guilty of wounding. The five women and two men selected to sit as jurors took about two hours of deliberation Wednesday to reach a unanimous verdict to acquit Justin Ramoon on the more serious charge while handing down a guilty verdict on the alternative charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Ramoon stabbed Lopez about eight times outside of Archie's Bar on Shedden Road in August last year. He was remanded in custody immediately after the verdict and is scheduled to be sentenced by acting judge, Justice Malcolm Swift, on Thursday.
During her closing argument, Crown counsel Toyin Salako said it was common sense as to what a person intends to do when they repeatedly stab someone to the top part of their body. However, defence attorney Ben Tonner was able to convince the jury that the defendant did not intend to murder Lopez because Ramoon stopped stabbing him at will, despite his advantage over the victim when he had slightly tripped and fallen over a cement slab. Lopez told the court that he did not try to put up a fight and that he had only been focused on getting away from his assailant.
The prosecutor was able to convince the jury that Andrew Lopez had correctly identified his attacker and that it was the defendant, Justin Ramoon. She said the victim knew on the basis that the lighting was sufficient to recognize his acquaintance of some six years. In addition, Ramoon made reference to a previous altercation between them that occurred just one week prior by asking “Where all your mouth is now?” while he was wielding the weapon.
The defendant's attorney told the court that “whenever the crown's case rests solely on identification, the jury have to exercise extreme caution.” Tonner expressed sympathy for the victim's injuries but said that the case lacked sufficient evidence to support the incident ever even happened because no other witnesses from the scene gave evidence to justify the happenings of 25 August. Tonner added, “They (the witnesses) are fallible like any other human being,” as he explained about common recognition mistakes before closing his argument.
Ramoon was taken back into custody Thursday after being released on bail in February and will be sentenced for his crime Thursday at 10am.
Category: Crime
Deportation order?
for who?? He's Caymanian…where you gonna deport him to, Boddent Town??
He is Caymanian, so stop trying to shift the blame. Learn to take responsibility. He had the very same problem that you do – I know because I taught this boy many years ago. Even then he showed signs that this is exactly where he was going to end up later in life.
Was he deportable as a child when it was recognized he was a problem? How and when did he become Caymanian?
Perhaps his last name, Ramoon, might give you a little bit of a hint as to who his family is.
You assume a lot.
How the r@$$ in Loving Jesus' name you going to deport someone so Caymanian they're called Ramoon? For God in Heaven's sake!
It doesn't get any better than this!
i think if you stab some one 9 times, it is attempted murder!
but 8 times is just not enough !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sooorryyyy
It must be hard to stab someone 8 times and NOT kill them. Did the court figure out exactly what his intention was if it wasn't to kill the man?
Caymans Judicial system at its best again. Please explain how you stab somebody 8 times and are not intending to kill them. The courts here get worse and worse every day. I hope they realize they will end up being responsible for a number of future murdersfor letting these people back out on the street.
Four words explain the Cayman Judicial system: Based on UK Law.
But also more and more European Union Law.
Jury verdict – nothing to do with the judiciary.
UNBELIEVABLE.
Cayman controlled by gangs
why you say CAYMAN again ?
isn't the problem world wide ? oh wait .. in YOUR home country there is NEVER an aquittal right ? and no gangs right ?
You are a moron for making it sound that it is a "cayman " problem
Get a life loser !!
Well said. Seems quite a few are in denial though based on the thumbs down. Really they all should just go back to where ever they are from and take their chances. Good Luck with that.
What does it take to get a conviction for attempted murder, if not stabbing someone 8 times while he's down on the ground? Law is based on intent, so what could this low life scum have possibly intended but to kill him, as any reasonably prudent person would know, would likely result in death. The lesser charge of "wounding" should not even have been included, as that became a moot point after the first stab wound. The other 7 could not have been anything less than intent to kill.
After reading about the other white collar crook who got his sentence cut in half the other day and now this, it says a lot about how the Cayman Islands feel about crime. Sending a message to the world that they don't mind the occasional grand larceny or attempted murder.
The Cayman Islands used to have a reputation for being the safest destination in the Caribbean, until a few years ago. I'm just wondering what happened? Were laws changed to give criminals more leniency? Is there a new prosecutor or judiciary that doesn’t care about letting serious crimes go unpunished? XXXX Either way, these types of things are making the Caymans look like just another banana republic.
Wake up there people, you are letting your country go down the tubes fast! Who do you think wants to visit a high end expensive destination when it’s not even safe to walk the streets anymore. Criminals will be your only visitors, as word gets out that crimes go unpunished there. What a terrible waste of what was such a beautiful country with some of the most wonderful and kind hearted people I’ve ever met on any of my vacations. But I sure wouldn’t bring my family there now, until you are able to clean your act up a little and get these scum bags off the street and behind bar where they belong.
See the RCIP and the courts in the Cayman Islands have always been trash. Its just now there is more serious crimes being taken to court. Now that the volume is up we are beginning to see that Cayman never really had a solid police force or courting system.
GBH can carry a very hefty sentence, and they probably went for this charge as opposed to attempted murder because all the defendant need say is he had no intetnion of killing him but the intent to wound (obviously as he poked him 8 times).
He did not have a leg to stand on with GBH hanging over his head, he did with the charge of attempted murder.
Attempts to murder
A person who –
(a) attempts unlawfully to cause the death of another; or
(b) with intent unlawfully to cause the death of another does any act or omits to do any act which it is his duty to do, such act or omission being of such a nature as to be likely to endanger human life, is guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for life.
Unfortunately that is how the system works and you can clearly "play it" to the benefit of yourself when you are up the creek.
The dudes life is over anyway the look at it, he wil get at least 10yrs and no one will hire him upon his release if he gets released, you will note you can get life for GBH.
Wounding or causing grievous bodily harm
203. A person who, unlawfully and maliciously, by any means, wounds or causes grievous bodily harm to a person with intent to do grievous bodily harm to any person or with intent to resist or prevent the lawful apprehension or detainer of any person, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for life.
Wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm
204. A person who unlawfully and maliciously wounds or inflicts any grievous bodily harm upon any other person, either with or without any weapon or instrument, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for seven years.
NOT guilty of attempted murder? Really? He stabbed the man 8 times!
All he needed to say was he had no intention of killing him.