Court mediates between mother and son’s alleged attacker

A St James man who was arrested in May after allegedly slapping and kicking a teenage boy during a confrontation, had his matter dismissed in the St James Parish Court on Monday following a successful mediation session with the complainant and his mother.

Ricardo Murray, of a Beverly Hills address, was before the court on the charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was freed following a no-case submission from the prosecution. Allegations are that on May 20, Murray approached the complainant and an altercation ensued. During the fracas, Murray slapped and kicked the complainant, hit him with a machete, and held a knife to his neck. During a court appearance on June 21, Murray told the court that the confrontation stemmed from a previous quarrel with the complainant's family members, and that the complainant had threatened him at the time of the May 20 incident.

However, when the case was mentioned before presiding Judge Sasha-Marie Ashley on Monday, Murray and the complainant's mother both told the court that they were interested in pursuing mediation to settle the matter. The case was briefly stood down to allow the parties to speak with a court-appointed mediator. A short while later, it was disclosed that the parties had come to an agreement.

"Because there is an agreement in place, there is now a binding contract in place," Judge Ashley briefly told the complainant's mother.

The prosecution subsequently accepted a not-guilty plea from Murray to the charge against him, and issued a no-evidence motion in order to dismiss his case before allowing him to leave the courtroom.