Prison officer Andy Browne, 34 years old with about 14 years experience, wept uncontrollably as he emerged from the High Court building as a free man on Thursday.
A nine-member Jury, five men and four women, found him not guilty of rape.
Browne was charged with raping a 21-year-old woman on July 2, 2020.
In the company of his lawyer Grant Connell, Browne said , “I am overwhelmed, I am so happy. I know I was innocent, and it was just a matter of time.”
He expressed gratitude to Almighty God, his lawyer and the jury.
Connell said , “It was clear that he (Browne) was set up. This area of the law needs to be revisited, and the police need to investigate these cases thoroughly before charging.”
Crown’s Closing summation
In her closing submissions on Wednesday, Crown Counsel Rene Simmons, who was assisted during the trial by attorney Richie Maitland, told the Jury that even though the complainant admitted that she allowed Browne to do certain things to her, including fondling her breast, it is her right to determine whether she wanted to have sex with him.
Referencing the evidence of the complainant, Simmons said, “She did not want to have sex until she was married. She said to you that when he (Browne) decided to pass that threshold, she tried to push him off.”
Simmons asked the jury to reject the defense’s story that the complainant concocted the story because she wanted to marry the accused, and that she got annoyed when Browne told her that he was married, and had two children.
She noted that the evidence showed that the complainant sent a text message to a close friend saying, ‘I think Andy raped me’, and when the friend asked if there was penetration, she said yes.
With regard to the absence of DNA evidence, Simmons said that DNA evidence was something that both the Crown and Defense would like to have, but the absence of such facilities in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are not within their control.
“It (DNA) could have been helpful to the defendant, and it could also be helpful to the virtual complainant,” she pointed out.
Simmons queried that if the complainant had concocted the story, then why would she admit to certain things, but deny that ‘fingering’ occurred and, “put herself through all this.”
Defence lawyer rebuts
But Connell, in referencing the evidence of the complainant’s close friend that the complainant had sent her a text message to her saying, ‘I think Andy raped me’, Connell said, “When a penis go in a vagina you don’t have to think anymore.”
Connell noted that the Investigator, retired Police Corporal Josette Galley, charged Browne about two hours after they had done an electronic interview with him.
Connell said that 75 percent of the questions he asked the complainant her answer was, “I can’t recall”.
And he noted that in the interview Browne said he did not rape or have sex with the virtual complainant.
“The police said he co-operated with them. He gave them his phone everything they wanted,” the lawyer argued.
“St. Vincent needed a (forensic) lab. Woo beyond to man, it’s unfair to man.
“From the time you accuse a man of rape you stain him for life,” Connell contended, and told the Jury, “The prosecution has to prove its case and you have to be sure that there are too many gaps in this case, so I ask you to set this man free.”
Browne had opted not to give evidence from the dock, but in an electronic interview with the police he denied raping or ever having sex with the complainant.
He said they were in a relationship for about two months, but all they did was kiss and fondle each other. He admitted that she was at a house with him on July 2, 2020, and she performed oral sex on him, but he did not have sex with her.
The complainant had told the Court that Browne took her to a house on two occasions. On the first occasion they kissed and he fondled her breasts, following which he took her home safely. However, on the second occasion, July 2, 2020, he raped her.
He said, “When I was dropping her home, she asked if I would marry her and I said I couldn’t marry her because I was married, and she became annoyed saying, I want to use her, and she got out the vehicle and slammed the door,” He said the police subsequently arrested him.
Dr. Michael Goodluck, who examined the complainant on July 3, 2020, around 9:40 a.m., told the Court there was evidence of penetration, but could not say what type of penetration it was.
When Connell asked him whether it was “penis, finger, cucumber or dildo,” the Doctor said he could not say.
Browne was on suspension from duties, as a Prison Officer, pending the outcome of the matter.
SOURCE : THE Vincentian Newspaper