Prosecutors said Monday morning that they will call nine more witnesses in the ongoing case against Violet “Letty” Hodge and Lucien Smith, who face chargesstemming from a 2011 police investigation that allegedly netted guns and bales of cocaine.
Three police officers testified to evidence they had gathered in relation to a search of a home owned by Ms. Hodge and her husband and a boat owned by Mr. Smith.
During videolink testimony from United States Virgin Islands Police Officer Shawn Querrard, who in 2011 was assigned to a US Drug Enforcement Administration task force based in St. Thomas, the court heard that all the video and still images taken during the August 2011 search of the Hodges’ house had been lost.
“The photos have been lost, so, if you can, tell us about how many photos you took that day,” said attorney Julian Knowles, QC, while questioning Mr. Querrard.
The police officer testified that by the end of the day’s activities, which included searches at two locations, his camera’s memory card was full. He added that there were probably around 30 still images on the camera, plus videos of both locations to serve as a record of what each place looked like before the searches were carried out.
Magistrate Ayanna Baptiste-DaBreo said Monday that the court’s calendar had been cleared for the week to allow the case to come to a conclusion.
See the April 16, 2015 edition for full coverage.