Man freed of alleged revenge killing in the Bahamas
NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC - A High Court has acquitted a 31-year-old man after a jury found him not guilty of murdering a person who had been on bail for the murder of his brother in the Bahamas 2019.
By a majority verdict of 7-1, the jury after two hours of deliberations, found that Brandon Evans was not guilty of shooting to death, Andy "Sip" Johnson at the Blue Hill Road Farmer's Market on October 7, 2022. Evans had pleaded not guilty to the offence.
The prosecution had accused Evans of a avenging the murder of his brother, Brian Evans. Police said Evans, wearing a camouflage jacket, approached Johnson at the western end of the market, before shooting him multiple times.
The prosecution had relied on an alleged confession in which Evans claimed that he killed Johnson because he had taken away the family's primary breadwinner, causing them to be evicted.
But defense lawyer Miranda Adderley urged the jury not to accept the confession, arguing that it was obtained under duress.
While Evans did not take the stand in his defence, his attorney presented evidence to show that he had been rushed to the hospital by ambulance from the station.
Evans former attorney, Ryszard Humes, had testified that police interviewed his client without contacting him and that Evans complained that he had been beaten by the police to confess to the crime.
Despite his acquittal, Evans was detained by police on an accusation that he damaged the car of Karen Hamilton, the sister of the deceased on February 5.
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