People of the VI v. Jose Juan Osorio, Jr.

Superior Court of The Virgin Islands·Decided January 22, 2025·No. SX-2020-CR-139·Published

Opinion

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS DIVISION OF ST. CROIX

PEOPLE OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS ) SX-2020-CR-00139

: CHARGES

Plaintiff, )

) UNAUTHORIZED POSSESSION OF A Vv ) FIREARM; POSSESSION OF ) AMMUNITION

JOSE JUAN OSORIO, JR

Defendant

)

Cite as: 2025 V.I. Super. 3P

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER [1] THIS MATTER came before the Court on January 14, 2025, for a Franks

Hearing on Defendant, Jose Juan Osorio, Jr.’s (hereinafter “Osorio”), March 31, 2022, Motion to Suppress. Because the Affidavit of Detective Aisha Jules (hereinafter “Jules”) contained false or misleading statements and omissions which were material to the Magistrate’s probable cause determination, the Motion to Suppress will be granted, and all evidence seized in connection with the search of Osorio’s home will be suppressed STATEMENT OF FACTS [2] Detective Aisha Jules (hereinafter “Detective Jules”) prepared an Affidavit, dated May 26, 2020, which served as the basis for the Magistrate’s issuance of a search warrant for Osorio’s home at #220 Sion Hill, Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The Affidavit was prepared in furtherance of an investigation into an attempted murder incident that occurred at #13A Mt Pleasant, in the area of the Evelyn M. Williams Elementary School, in Frederiksted. St. Croix. Two persons in a Chevy Cobalt were shot

Memorandum Opinion and Order 2025 V.I. Super. 3 People v. Jose Juan Osorio, Jr SX-20-CR-139 Page 2 of 16

in the neck, and a silver Ford Focus appearing to belong to the suspects was found in the location of the shooting [3} The Affidavit laid out the steps undertaken as part of the investigation to determine who committed the shooting and where the suspects were located, most of which are not relevant to the subject charges. However, the silver Ford Focus was later tied to #242 Mount Pleasant and Jiovani Smith (“Smith”). Smith was later picked up and transported to the Wilbur H. Francis Command for questioning. (See Affidavit, Paragraph J) [4] Paragraph K of the Affidavit states, “I then received information that a witness to the incident was present at the Police Station. I traveled to the Wilbur H. Francis Police Station where I made contact with Witness (W1) who provided a statement that was video recorded”. Paragraph L continues, “(W1) stated that Jerome Wallace, Calijah Brewley, and C.M., a minor, was (sic) present at Jiovani Smith’s house in Mount Pleasant” where they planned the shooting. Osorio’s challenge to the veracity of this Affidavit focused primarily on paragraph “M”, which states

WI stated that on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, Jerome and Calijah were present at Jiovani’s house when Jiovani stated that he needed a ride to go pink up some “steel” (street name for firearm). W1 stated that the three traveled to a yellow house located on the back road for (sic) Sion farm W1 stated that the yard has a shed that appears to be a booth or a food van, and a short Hispanic male individual lives there. W1 stated that that Jiovani met with the short Hispanic male and they went inside. W1 states that Jiovani exited with the firearms that were used in the shooting in the vicinity of Evelyn M. Williams School. W1 stated that he/she did not enter the area where the firearms are kept, but he/she was advised by Jiovani that is where they keep their arsenal of firearms

(Affidavit, Paragraph M) Paragraph N, for the first time in the Affidavit, mentions #220 Sion Hill and Jose Osorio. It states, “Further investigation revealed that Jose Juan Osorio

Memorandum Opinion and Order 2025 V.I. Super. 3 People v. Jose Juan Osorio, Jr. SX-20-CR-139 Page 3 of 16

who is known associate of Jivani Smith, fits the description of the short Hispanic male and the house, located at #220 Sion Hill, where he resides. Police reports also verified that Mr. Osorio resides at said address.” There is no information on the “further investigation” that led to the conclusion that Osorio or the address, #220 Sion Hill, were connected to the shooting incident [5] The other relevant paragraphs in the Affidavit are paragraphs Q and R. In those paragraphs, detailed information on the description and location of #220 Estate Sion Hill is given. Detective Jules asserts in paragraph Q that #220 Estate Sion Hill, Christiansted, St. Croix, USVI is ‘“‘on the south side of a short unnamed east/west traveling road located within the Sion Hill neighborhood. The residence is the second residence from the west end of the road and is located on the corner of the cul-de-sac and the main semi-circle access road.” Then, in paragraph R, Detective Jules makes known the following

The structure is described as being a single-family, single-story residence with a large blue box truck/ food truck parked in the front yard. The structure has light yellow painted exterior walls, light blue/green trim, and a silver metallic corrugated metal roof. The main entrance is located on the north side on the northwest corner of the structure and is painted white. The numerical “220”

appears on a small white placard located on the northwest corner of the structure

There is no information in the Affidavit of the investigation that led to the conclusion that #220 Estate Sion Hill was the location to which W1 referred, where a short Hispanic male known as Osorio lives (] At the Franks Hearing, Detective Jules testified that W1 was Jerome Wallace and that the contents of paragraph “M” relied upon the statements of Jerome Wallace (hereinafter “‘Wallace”). However, in the Video Statement, which was played at the hearing and admitted as evidence, Wallace (W1) does not describe going to “the yellow

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house located on the back road for Sion farm” nor does he otherwise describe the house as set forth in paragraph ‘“M”. Detective Jules stated that Wallace continued to speak after the video camera was turned off, and she relied upon those unrecorded statements in drafting paragraph “M”. Detective Jules does not testify to any further investigation that was conducted to verify the unrecorded statements of Wallace. She also admits that no notes were taken on the unrecorded statements of Wallace, nor does a police report memorialize the statement. There was also no corroborating testimony to Detective Jules’ statements of Wallace’s unrecorded testimony [7] Detective Jules also testified that Wallace was not entirely forthright in providing information to the police. During his questioning by the police, Wallace lied when he told the police that a gun was placed to his head to force him to drive. He later admitted that it did not occur. Later, Wallace relates how the shooting and securing of the weapons occurred [8] On May 26, 2020, Detective Jules prepared an affidavit for search warrants on two properties, one of which was #220 Sion Hill, Christiansted, St. Croix. A warrant was issued on the same date to search #220 Sion Hill. The search was executed on May 29, 2020. As a result of the search, several weapons and ammunition were found, namely

e achrome Springfield Armory ACP magazine with thirteen (13) live .45 caliber rounds

e a black Springfield Armory SC-45 ACP SN: GM473369 with one (1) live 45 caliber round in the chamber and nine (9) in the magazine e three (3) magazines containing 9 mm live rounds e one (1) black, Ruger AR-556 SN:856-92656 with one (1) live .223 round in the camber and a hundred capacity double drum magazine which contained eighty-nine (89) live .223 rounds

Memorandum Opinion and Order 2025 V.1. Super. 3 People v. Jose Juan Osorio, Jr. SX-20-CR-139 Page 5 of 16

e ablack Glock 19 SN: BFSX984 with a chambered 9 mm live round and an extended 9mm magazine containing thirty-one (31) live rounds inside of same with a Glock switch chip on it e one (1) black handgun with P80 receiver model: PF940C with a chambered 9 mm live round and a magazine containing fourteen (14) live round inside of same

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