A St Catherine businesswoman was last week freed of ganja-related charges at her trial in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court, due to several discrepancies in the prosecution’s case.
Roxanne Ewart, 43, of Linstead, St Catherine, was arrested and charged in April 2021 after a probe suggested that she had shipped products laced with ganja via DHL.
The products were reportedly candles.
During the cross-examination of the main witness, Ewart’s attorney, Richard Lynch, cited that a discrepancy was identified between what was allegedly recovered on the day in question, and what was tested at the Government’s forensic laboratory.
The witness admitted that there were items that were contained in the exhibit that were not part of the original seizure.
On that score, Lynch objected to the exhibits being tendered into evidence.
At that juncture, the presiding parish judge acceded to the attorney’s request, ordering that the exhibits could not be used at the trial.
As the trial progressed, Lynch also contended that there were inconsistencies relative to how the recovered parcels had been labelled and stored.
When the prosecution closed its case, Ewart’s attorney made a submission, arguing that the level of uncertainty surrounding the parcels and how they were handled while in the police’s custody, were too great to continue the trial.
The prosecution conceded, and Ewart was subsequently freed by the parish judge.
