Codrington v. People

57 V.I. 176, 2012 WL 2949139, 2012 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 56
CourtSupreme Court of The Virgin Islands
DecidedJuly 20, 2012
DocketS. Ct. Criminal No. 2009-0002
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 57 V.I. 176 (Codrington v. People) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Codrington v. People, 57 V.I. 176, 2012 WL 2949139, 2012 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 56 (virginislands 2012).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

(July 20, 2012)

Cabret, Associate Justice.

Akeel Codrington appeals his convictions for first degree murder, unauthorized use of a firearm during the commission of a first degree murder, and possession of stolen property. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the Superior Court on all grounds.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Around noon on October 16, 2007, Carlos Aguilar drove home from work to have lunch. At his house, he discovered that someone had broken in, and called the police and his wife. After the police completed an initial investigation, Mr. Aguilar decided to return to work, but before he got out of his driveway, both he and his wife noticed an unfamiliar red car. As Mrs. Aguilar watched from the driveway, Mr. Aguilar followed the red car, a Mitsubishi Mirage, up a dead end road away from his house and then back down, passing in front of his house. This pursuit ended when the red car, driven by Codrington, crashed into a concrete planter in front of the Sapphire Beach Resort. After the crash, Codrington got out of his vehicle, approached Mr. Aguilar, and shot Mr. Aguilar. Codrington began walking back to his car, but then paused, turned around, calmly walked back to Mr. Aguilar, leaned into the driver’s side of Mr. Aguilar’s car, and shot Mr. Aguilar again. Two passengers in safari buses,1 along with the driver of one of the safari buses, witnessed the shooting. After the [179]*179incident, police officers responding to the scene found several items stolen from the Aguilars’ home in the trunk of the red car driven by Codrington.2

As a result of the events of October 16, 2007, police arrested Codrington and charged him with possession of stolen property. After further investigation, police charged Codrington with murder as well. Ultimately, the People brought Codrington to trial on a three count information: first degree murder, in violation of 14 V.I.C. §§ 921 and 922(a), unauthorized use of a firearm during commission of a crime of violence, in violation of 14 V.I.C. § 2253(a), and possession of stolen property, in violation of 14 V.I.C. § 2101(a).

At trial, three eyewitnesses testified for the People. The first of the eyewitnesses, Steve Ramsey, testified that he arrived in St. Thomas aboard a cruise ship and he, his family, and some friends toured the island on an open air safari bus the day of the shooting. He stated that at approximately two o’clock, while on its way to Sapphire Beach, the safari got stuck in traffic in a construction zone. Ramsey said he heard some commotion and saw a silver SUV and a small red car race around the safari. According to Ramsey, the silver SUV proceeded to cut the red car off, causing the red car to crash into a concrete wall. From the safari bus, which was approximately thirty to forty yards away from the crash, Ramsey then saw the drivers of both vehicles get out and begin to argue. Ramsey said that the man who had been driving the red vehicle, who Ramsey later identified as Codrington, had a gun in his hand, and fired a shot at the driver of the SUV moments after the argument began. Ramsey said that after the shot, the driver of the SUV got back into his vehicle. Ramsey then saw Codrington return to the red car, stop, then calmly walk back to the SUV, lean into the driver’s side, and fire another shot, this one into the SUV.

At that point the lone passenger of the red car, who had been watching from outside the red car the entire time, had a quick conversation with Codrington. Following this conversation, Codrington and the passenger ran along the road towards the safari, prompting Ramsey and his family to lie on the floor of the safari. Codrington was approximately fifteen to twenty yards away when Ramsey last saw him. After Codrington and the [180]*180passenger of the red car passed, the safari eventually drove past the silver SUV, at which point Ramsey saw that the driver of the SUV had been shot. Thereafter, during the investigation of the shooting, Ramsey identified Codrington as the shooter by selecting him from a six person photo array. Ramsey described Codrington as wearing a white t-shirt and short pants on the day of the shooting and as having his hair in either dreadlocks or braids. During the same investigation, Ramsey also described the passenger of the red car as wearing a white t-shirt and short pants.

Bryan Russell also testified that he was in St. Thomas the day of the shooting, vacationing on a cruise ship. Like Ramsey, Russell took a tour of the island on a taxi safari and ended up near Sapphire Beach at the time of the shooting. Russell testified that he saw a man, who he later identified as Codrington, approach from the rear of a red car and fire a silver revolver at a man who had been driving a silver SUV. He stated that after Codrington fired the first shot he took a few steps away from the SUV before he turned around, walked back to the SUV, leaned inside the window, and fired another shot. Russell described Codrington as wearing a white t-shirt and jean shorts with dreadlocks. Russell did not see whether Codrington got out of the red car from the driver’s side or the passenger’s side and did not see a second person exit the car.

The third eyewitness, Timotheus Ross, a taxi driver/tour guide, testified that he was taking a tour group to Sapphire Beach to go swimming on the day of the shooting.3 As Ross and his group approached Sapphire, Ross saw a silver SUV chasing a little red car. According to Ross, the red car crashed into a flower bed, prompting the driver of the car to get out of the car with a silver-barreled gun in hand. The driver, who Ross later identified as Codrington, walked over to the SUV and fired a shot inside the SUV. Ross said Codrington then walked back to his car, turned around, walked back to the SUV, and fired a second shot. As Codrington made his second approach, Ross saw Mr. Aguilar move from the driver’s seat to the passenger’s seat. Ross testified that after firing the second shot, Codrington, dressed in a long white t-shirt and dark pants, walked over to Ross’s safari and ordered Ross to step out of the vehicle. Ross refused and Codrington moved on, first by walking to a car behind the safari and [181]*181attempting to get into that vehicle, and after that failed, by walking further down the road out of Ross’s sight. After Codrington left, Ross went to the silver car to check on Mr. Aguilar. Ross testified that he saw Mr. Aguilar holding his belly and blood “coming through his fingers.” (J.A. vol. II, 35-36.) During the police investigation into the shooting, Ross identified Codrington as the shooter by picking him out of a six or seven person photo array. During the investigation Ross also described a passenger from the red car as wearing a white t-shirt and dark colored pants.

In addition to the three eyewitnesses, the People called a number of other witnesses to testify at the trial, including Officer Lauren Battiste, Crime Scene Technician Sharissa Brathwaite, Mrs. Aguilar, and Detective Albion George. Officer Battiste testified that, on the day of the shooting, she responded to a burglary complaint made by Mr. Aguilar. According to Battiste, when she arrived the Aguilars’ home had been ransacked. Battiste spoke with Mr. Aguilar and his wife, who told her that a forty-inch television, a twenty-inch television, a digital phone, and some jewelry were missing.

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Bluebook (online)
57 V.I. 176, 2012 WL 2949139, 2012 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 56, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/codrington-v-people-virginislands-2012.