Both Defendants, Devon Wright and Kristie McField, after the Crown closed its case, had no case to answer submissions made by counsels on their behalf.

Mr. John Furniss was acting for Devon Wright and Nick Hoffman of Priestleys for Kristie McField.

The case against the two persons was in connection with laptop computers stolen from two apartments.

Judge Quin made his judgement as follows:

1. Submissions as relating to Devon Wright.

The Crown’s evidence against Devon Wright is as follows:

An ACER laptop was stolen from Hugh Maxwell’s Apartment # 1A 14 Summit Crescent in prospect between 9pm on the 26^th May 2011 and 4:15 am on the 27^th May 2011.

A TOSHIBA laptop was stolen  from  Marlon Birch’s   home   at  Apartment   #8,  61  Summit   Crescent,   in  Prospect sometime between 12:15 a.m. and 5:50a.m. on the 27th May 2011.

Sometime in the early hours of the 271h May 2011 Devon Wright arrived at 43  Hickory  Drive,  in  Prospect,  the  home  of  his  uncle,  Dougmore Wright,  and asked  to sleep  there  because  he said  he couldn’t  get into  his father’s house next door.

When Devon Wright arrived at Dougmore Wright’s house he had a cloth bag and he showed  Dougmore  Wright  the two aforementioned laptops,  which were in the cloth bag. He told Dougmore Wright they were not stolen and “are not hot”.  Devon goes to sleep in the kitchen and the police arrive at 6am at Dougmore’s apartment.

Also at the apartment is Kristie McField and according to McField Devon tells her to hide the cloth bag, which she does (under the kitchen sink).

As soon as the door is opened and the police enter, Devon Wright is first seen and identified  by all the police officers whilst inside the house, but he rushes past everyone and flees the scene and is nowhere to be found.

In finding that the evidence presented by the Crown is not so weak that it could not be so discredited as not to conceivably support a guilty verdict Justice Quinn ordered that the trial against Devon Wright is to continue. In his ruling he asked the question, “If the laptops were not stolen, why would Devon Wright flee the scene in such a hurry?”

2. Submissions as relating to Kristie McField.

Ms.  McField,  at  the  time,  lived  at  43  Hickory  Drive,  Prospect,  with Dougmore Wright and two other persons. She was in the bedroom when Devon Wright was in the kitchen showing Dougmore Wright the two stolen laptops that were in the cloth bag.

McField got up when the police arrived and before they could get inside the premises Devon Wright instructed her to conceal the bag, which she did, and was seen doing this by one of the police officers through a front window of the dwelling.

Justice Quin ruled in favour of the defendant  saying he could find no evidence  that Kristie  McField  knew or believed  that the contents  of the cloth  bag handed to her by Devon  Wright  were stolen goods.

The judge said, “She may have suspected that there was something in the bag that Devon did not want the police to find, but she did not and could not know whether it was illegal drugs, firearms or what the contents  were.”

He also said, “The cloth bag was not transparent and the contents  of the bag could not be seen in the bag; there is no evidence that Kristie McField was told that the contents were stolen goods; there  is  no evidence  that  Kristie  McField  had  any  knowledge  of  the burglaries  committed   at  apartment  1A,  14  Summit  Crescent,  and,  at apartment 8, 61 Summit Crescent, in Prospect; Kristie McField  was in the bedroom when  Devon Wright showed Dougmore Wright the two stolen laptops; and there  is  no  evidence   that  Kristie  McField  knew  of  Devon  Wright’s previous convictions for burglary.”