Frederick Boothe was charged along with Mr. Charles Ebanks of unlawful possession of an unlicenced firearm. Boothe and Ebanks were said to have been in the vicinity of the L.I. Night Club, Lawrence Avenue, on 26^th March 2011 and had in their possession a Ruger .44 caliber revolver.

Both men pleaded “Not Guilty” to the offence and at the end of the prosecution’s case against Ebanks the Court ruled Ebanks had no case to answer and a formal verdict of “Not Guilty was entered against him.

PC Homer, an officer of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS), testified that at about 2:35 a.m. on Saturday the 26th March 2011 he was on patrol when he received a transmission on the police radio. He went to the LI Night Club with PC Smith who was with him, and drove to the front entrance of the Club.  PC Homer walked from the main entrance along the back towards a dumpster, in the general direction of the rear exit door. He saw two men, including Defendant Frederick Boothe, and covertly drew his firearm and shouted to them to put their hands on the vehicle near them. The men complied, the police searched the men and nothing was recovered. The men were released. Then PC Homer noticed that PC Smith was with another man who was later identified as Charles Ebanks, whom, according to PC Horner, PC Campbell had said he had seen secrete something in the bush. The police searched the area surrounding Mr. Ebanks and found a firearm. Charles Ebanks said that he had been with Defendant Boothe throughout the night.  PC Campbell, who had joined   these officers, then went to get Defendant Boothe, who was in the parking lot, and both Defendant Boothe and Charles Ebanks were arrested.

PC Smith testified that when he arrived on the location he searched Defendant   Boothe and another man.  Having searched them and found nothing, he released the men and joined PC Campbell who had by then detained Charles Ebanks. PC Smith joined in the search of the bushes. Within about 25 seconds, he found a firearm.  There was a branch of an almond tree extending over the pavement of the parking lot. PC Smith said he lifted the branch with one hand and when he put the beam of his flashlight under the branch he saw the firearm among dry leaves. According to PC Smith he gave his colleagues instructions and it was then that PC Campbell went for Defendant Boothe and brought him back to the scene. PC Smith says that he asked Defendant Boothe and Charles Ebanks what it was that he had found and who it belonged to. Defendant Boothe replied that he knew what it was but did not know to whom it belonged or how it got there.

PC Campbell testified that he also responded to the transmission and went to the rear of the parking lot at LI Night Club. PC Campbell said he could hear PC Homer giving instructions to two males in the parking lot. At the same time, according to PC Campbell, he saw a male, later identified as Charles Ebanks, slightly crouched   in bushes, appearing   as if he were placing something in the bushes. Under cross examination PC Campbell agreed that he did not see Charles Ebanks place anything in the bushes and agreed further that Mr. Ebanks’s movement was such that he could not only be putting down something, but he could also be picking up something or searching. The police searched the area and found what appeared to be a firearm under some trash. The barrel was not hidden. Immediately, testified PC Campbell, he went to the entrance of the LI Night Club where the Defendant Boothe was standing, and asked him to return to where Mr. Ebanks and the other RCIPS officers were. Under cross-examination PC Campbell testified that where the officer first Stopped Defendant Boothe was about 30 to 35 feet from the rear exit.

DNA evidence was submitted that concluded that it could have included Boothe’s on the hand gun in five places – the hammer, the trigger guard and the trigger of the firearm as also on the rusty section of the cylinder of the firearm, and the metal section of its handle.

There was another DNA profile on the weapon that had a far greater match probability. The more significant profile belonged to a Cleve Borden known to the police but because that man was not around when the officers recovered the handgun he was never charged in connection with the weapon.

Justice Carol Beswick on Thursday (13) in finding Boothe “Not Guilty” said she was satisfied he had indeed handled the firearm but the evidence presented did not prove he had possession of the firearm at the time of the incident he was on trial for. The prosecution had not been able to provide evidence as to whether Mr Cleve Borden had been there that night and, the Defence submitted that, with the state of that evidence, the prosecution could not know if the firearm had been placed there by the person who had the majority profile. The unchallenged evidence was there were about 40 persons in the car park. Beswick said, “A firearm can be in the joint possession of persons but only if each person can be shown to have active involvement in its possession. It is not enough that the person can have access to it.”

Judge Beswick also said she was sensitive of the concerns in the community regarding the number of firearms in the hands of a few individuals who were “brazenly engaged in anti-social behaviour” and that the court had to serve as both a deterrent and a way of sending a message that this criminal behaviour would not be tolerated and such crimes carried consequences. But, Justice Beswick added, “The court could not succumb to the temptation of making decisions based on suspicion, no matter how strong the suspicion may be.”