By Latrishka Thomas
A building contractor who shot one of his workers in the mouth will be spending another two weeks behind bars as he awaits his sentencing hearing, but his lawyer is already preparing to file an appeal.
Desbones St John, who was convicted of shooting with intent to murder late last year, was to be sentenced on Friday, 27 January, but the judge deferred his decision until February 10.
In March 2018, St John shot James Elliot at close range and left him for dead at a site in Barbuda.
The victim was employed by the defendant, but the relationship grew sour when the defendant stopped paying his workers.
The men stopped working for the contractor as a result.
Then, on 25 March, 2018, when Elliot refused to return his work phone because of the outstanding monies, St John slammed him into a truck, placed his firearm on Elliot’s lips and fired the gun.
The bullet went through the victim’s lips, damaged the right side of his jaw and remained lodged in his head.
Elliot was rushed to the hospital by a friend. In the meantime, St John went to the police and told them that a friend of his had been shot and accused someone else of being the perpetrator.
But Elliot lived to tell the story, and although he couldn’t speak at the time, he was able to identify his former boss as the shooter.
St John, who was represented by lawyer Wendel Robinson, put forward two defenses in the trial.
He argued self-defense and also claimed that it was not intentional.
However, a majority – eight of nine – of the jurors returned a guilty verdict on the charge of shooting with intent to murder.
On Friday, the court heard from the man’s lawyer who begged Justice Colin Williams to be merciful upon his 59-year-old client, so that “he could come back out and make himself a useful man in society”.
Robinson also stated that he believes that the jury “got it wrong” because the shooting was in fact a “freak accident”.
He said he intends to appeal with the intention of having the conviction of the father of eight be overturned.
“I am constant as the northern star that the conviction will be overturned,” he told the court.
The prosecution then urged the judge to strictly apply the sentencing guidelines in his decision, noting the prospective appeal.
He also reminded the judge of how serious the crime was, stating that the complainant lost some of his teeth and part of his tongue, and is paralysed on the right side of his face, among other things.
When the judge hands down his decision on 10 February, the convict could be imprisoned for up to 35 years.