Trial begins for Attempted Murder of Rodwell Williams

With the murder of Ricky Valencia last Wednesday, Akeem Thurton now stands alone on trial for the Attempted Murder of Attorney Rodwell Williams, the law partner of the prime minister. It’s the first trial without jury and after delays over legal representation, it finally started today before Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin. Williams was called to testify by D.P.P. Cheryl-Lynn Vidal, and for the first time since May thirty-first, 2010, he recounted the near fatal shooting. Williams gave specific details about the ordeal, saying that at seven-twenty p.m. he exited his office, accompanied by a security guard. As they headed toward the parking lot, the security guard noticed two men on separate bicycles ride past slowly. They stopped near a street lamp where one dropped his bike and got into a struggle with the security guard. According to Williams, the second man, who had a firearm, told him, “Why don’t you just give the man what he came for?” Williams says he didn’t know the man was speaking to him until the gun was pointed at him. A single shot was fired and he felt a pain in the side of his abdomen before he fell to the ground. According to the attorney, he got a good look at the gunman, who then jumped onto his bicycle and rode off.  Before leaving the stand, he told the court that on September twenty-eighth he picked out Akeem Thurton from an ID parade. Thurton remains unrepresented and is now putting the blame on Valencia, since he has been killed. But Williams maintains that he saw Thurton pull the trigger. Chief Justice Benjamin adjourned the matter for March fifth. The DPP intends to call fifteen witnesses.  Two others, Catherine Michaels and Tyler Arnold, took the stand after Williams.