I can now start my life, says man freed of murder after 13-year wait for retrial

Livern Barrett, Senior Gleaner Writer

The fourth man who dodged a murder conviction then waited 13 years for the retrial of a 17 year-old murder case has been freed.

Damion Crossdale maintained his innocence as he exited the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston yesterday and said he was just happy his legal troubles are behind.

“I feel like a free man. I can start my life now,” he told The Gleaner.

The 35-year-old was acquitted after prosecutor Nicola Rowe announced in court that she was offering no evidence against him.

Crossdale disappeared from the Home Circuit Court last Wednesday, minutes before he and co-accused, Leslie Nugent, Carlos Howard and Kimarley Cooper were about to face a second murder trial for the shooting death of Delroy Lawrence in the east Kingston community of Franklyn Town in December 2001.

The trial was, however, aborted and Nugent, Howard and Cooper set free after prosecutors revealed, in court, that Lawrence’s mother, who was their main witness, admitted that she did not see her son get shot.

That appears to contradict the account she gave police investigators that she saw Cooper held on to her son, pointed a gun at him and fired once. She indicated, too, that another fired more bullets into her son’s body as he lay in the street.

A post mortem report also revealed that Lawrence was shot from behind.

A warrant was issued for Crossdale and he was arrested when he showed up at the Home Circuit Court the following day and remained in custody until yesterday.

But Rowe again cited the inconsistencies in the evidence before announcing that she would not seek to pursue a second trial for Crossdale.

“Based on that glaring issue [inconsistencies]…we could not overcome the issue of credibility,” she told presiding judge Justice Courtney Daye.

“It has become evident that we could not proceed because of the paucity of evidence as it relates to the identity of the men who shot [deceased],” Rowe added.

Daye described Crossdale’s action as “dishonourable” for discharging him.

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