The trial for Roro Eduorne (left) and Renold Plasimond continued today, October 25, 2012 with testimonies from witnesses, who lost their loved ones on the ill-fated journey. The trial started yesterday October 24, 2012 in the High Court where the prosecution alleged that the boat captain of the ill-fated “Jesus LA” was the first man overboard after the vessel collided with rocks in the Nora Hazel Point, Brandy Wine Bay, Tortola. Photo: VINO/File

The court first heard from Gerdie Ravix who told a gripping tale of her intended passage from St Marten in the dark of night on a journey that resulted in the loss of her son Mikey Delicieux, as well as her sister.

She explained that they were earlier told to bow down as the boat sped up and she started to get wet; there were no lights aboard but persons used their mobile phones to provide some. Asked what happened while she was on the boat, she said “When the boat started speeding they went to the reef and the boat sank.”

“After the boat hit the reef," she said, “I stayed on board because I knew if I jumped up I could have died. My son and my sister also stayed on board.”

She later explained that all of the other passengers just jumped into the sea after the boat hit the reef and “the waves of the water” eventually pushed her out of the boat at some point afterwards.

The visibly upset Ravix, recounted that she had put her son back on the boat and held on along with her sister, who was by her side during the voyage. The woman, who is a Haitian national, also revealed that she couldn’t swim and had no knowledge about what a life jacket was.

“When I was going down I tried to come up two times but I found a bag and held onto the bag,” she said.

The woman then told the court that as she was holding onto the bag, she felt her arms starting to hurt; she saw a gallon of gas and tried to hold onto it then saw a rope and managed to cling to this. No one came to assist them as everyone was on their own trying to save themselves. She said she didn’t see the captain or anyone else as everyone jumped.

She never saw her sister or son alive afterwards.

While holding on to some rocks, she saw the coast guard who advised her to stay there and said they would come to assist her. After they took the persons in the water, they came for her.

“After they took us, they carried us to the waterfront then they went to the detention centre with us,” she continued.

Three days later, they took her to the morgue where she saw her only son and then her sister.

When she was asked how they looked, she tearfully responded that “they couldn’t even show me the head of my son; it looked as if a fish ate it.” 

Under cross-examination by defence attorney Ruthilia Maximea for the main accused, she explained that she was situated at the back of the boat which had about 30 persons who were seated at the back and sides of the boat.

She also revealed that she didn’t discover the name of the captain until after the journey as “when they are arranging a trip they don’t give anyone their names.”

The prosecution also called Gulaine Carney, who tearfully related her tale of losing her two children. She told the court that she had been living in St Marten for two years before then with her husband and two children.

Ms Carney, who was unemployed, said her eldest child was Clefanger Jude, 11, and her daughter Daphca Jude was about 5 years of age at the time of the ordeal.

She also told the court that she had no documents for St Marten and her husband was working at the beginning of their stay there but he didn’t have a job afterwards and he went to St Thomas subsequently in March 2010.

She remained in St Marten and made arrangements later to travel but couldn’t say who arranged the trip but knew the person she had paid for the trip. She had paid $2500 for the trip.

The woman explained that while she was on the boat, passengers started to scream “Jesus save me, Jesus save me” when the boat sped up.

“It looked like the boat hit (something) and water started coming inside of the boat and people started to jump outside of the boat,” she said.

Her daughter was in her arms during the journey while her son sat at her side. She explained that she could not swim and neither could her children. The woman broke into tears again at this point and explained that her daughter was in her hands after she hit the water but the waves were so strong that her daughter came out of her hands. She didn’t know what happened with her son as she couldn’t do anything for him. She immediately began breaking down again, prompting the interpreter to offer some relief.

Meanwhile, the trial began yesterday October 24, 2012 in the High Court where the prosecution alleged that the boat captain of the ill-fated “Jesus LA” was the first man overboard after the vessel collided with rocks in the Nora Hazel Point, Brandy Wine Bay, Tortola.

Senior Crown Counsel Valston Graham said during the trial the court will hear that the Captain, Roro Edourne, did not pay commitment to rule that the Captain should go down with the ship. 'The captain was the first man overboard, swam to land and left his passengers to fend for themselves”, Mr Graham alleged.

He told the jury that even if the boat had collided, the Captain should have at least tried to rescue some but did not. “Rather than staying to help his passengers, we say Mr Edourne found time to pay a local in Brandywine Bay, borrowed her cell phone and telephoned associates in St. Martin to update them on what had gone wrong. Some of the witnesses will tell you that it was dark and they could not see the Captain but one particular witness will say he knew Mr Edourne quite well and knew him as “Baboo”. Mr Graham added that this particular witness will say that he spoke to Mr. Edourne on that fateful day and could confirm that he was the Captain of that boat. 

It was also stated that passengers in the boat could not swim, were not wearing any life jackets, had children among them and they stayed in the boat until it capsized after which they began to struggle for safety. 

Unlike Mr. Eudorne, Mr. Graham added, the Prosecution’s case is that his assistant Mr. Plasimond actually stayed behind and did assisted in the safety of some passengers. “Make no mistake that does not relieve him of his liability.”

Edourne was the alleged captain of the vessel at the centre of the tragedy that occurred on Sunday December 5, 2010 when a fibre glass boat ran aground in the vicinity of Brandywine Bay. The aftermath of the accident left eight dead, four of whom were children.

According to the Crown, the vessel named 'Jesus LA' departed from St. Maarten and was en route to the US Virgin Islands. However, after being spotted by US Coast Guards, the vessel sped off to Tortola.

Twenty-five individuals were rescued and were eventually repatriated to their respective countries.

Meanwhile, Plasimond was fingered as the alleged mastermind in the alleged human smuggling operation. 

Mr. Graham, who is assisted by another Senior Crown Counsel in Christlyn Benjamin, explained that there are two types of manslaughter- voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter. He said the court was not concerned with voluntary manslaughter and explained that voluntary manslaughter occurs when persons commit an act with the intention to kill or cause serious bodily harm. 

Further, the jury was advised to pay keen attention to what allegedly occurred when the US Coast Guard spotted the boat and what resulted in the death of persons.

The Prosecution also contended that the men were charged jointly because it is the case that the men were acting together but that they played different roles. Mr Graham said the men acted together to transport passengers from St Martin to the US Virgin Islands on a boat sometime during the night of December 5 into the morning of December 6, 2010. On joint enterprise, Mr Graham explained, although the men played different roles each can be held liable for the acts of the other. 

Giving a preview of the evidence, Mr Graham said it was the Prosecution’s case that sometime during the period in question, a white open hull boat with the name “Jesus LA” left St Martin for St. Thomas, USVI with approximately 30 persons, which included men, women and about 4 children between the ages of 12 months to 12 years. 

The Prosecution further alleged that although the trip started on December 5, 2012, the court will hear that plans were afoot before then and that payment, in different amount, was made for the service to be rendered to the passengers. Mr Graham added that the court will further hear that that during the day of December 5, 2010, arrangements were made for different persons to collect them (passengers) in St Martin and that they were collected at agreed locations and taken to an unknown location, in some bushes in St Martin; a location close to the sea and given instructions to wait for the boat. 

The court, he said, will also hear that the boat was crowded. "The boat was packed as sardines, passengers sat on the floor of the boat and the only two persons standing were the two defendants.”

It was stated that the trip was going smoothly until they (defendants) spotted a light overhead. The light was allegedly that of a US Law Enforcement aircraft. On spotting the overhead light, passengers were allegedly given instructions lie low, to which they complied. 

The jury was also told that the US Coast Guard subsequently approached, shone bright lights on the boat in question, and ordered it to stop, however, it  took off in high speed rather than complying with coast guard instructions to. The “Jesus LA” allegedly had no lights.

The Coast Guard, the Prosecution said, gave chase and the boat collided on some rocks in the area of Nora Hazel Point in Brandywine Bay, Tortola. “You will hear that the boat started to take water and sank.”

The jury was told that it will see footage of the chase and collision as recorded by the US Coast Guard.

The jury was also warned that the case would be one capable of evoking emotions and caution the members to not allow sympathy, feeling of disgust, outrage or such things to overshadow their judgement. “The verdict should be influenced by one thing and one thing only, the evidence that comes from that [witness] box.”

Meanwhile, the first witness to take the stand was detective Forbes Washington, who said he took photographs of the area in Brandywine Bay area where the accident allegedly occurred and also took photographs of the “Jesus LA” at the Police Marine Base.

Mr Washington then produced an album, allegedly of the photographs taken, and this was subsequently shown to the defendants. Mr Edourne flicked through it and said “I don't know anything about that". Mr Plasimond was seen going through it carefully with his lawyer Mr Patrick Thompson but had no comments.

Following Mr Washington’s presentation, which included the use of a television monitor to show the court his photographs intended to be put into evidence, Mr. Edourne, who was unrepresented, was asked if he had any questions for the detective but told the court he did not know what to ask.

Mr Thompson’s only question was whether the collision took place late at night into early morning, to which detective Washington responded in the affirmative.