By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

THE men who were on trial in the Supreme Court for nearly a week in connection with the brazen daylight robbery of tourists during an eco-tour of Earth Village were acquitted of the nine charges against them on the direction of the judge.

Justice Roy Jones directed that Frederick Green, 30, of Carmichael Road and Dekota Von Lockhart, 24, of Churchill Avenue be acquitted of six counts of armed robbery and three counts of receiving after the ruling closed discussions between the lawyers, Dorsey McPhee and Roger Gomez II and prosecutor Vernal Collie.

As a result, the jury was directed to deliver unanimous not guilty verdicts on the charges concerning both men.

It was alleged that they, on November 20, 2009 while armed with a firearm, robbed Elizabeth McDonald, Edena Farah, Robert Young, Paul Coladonato, Tung Sii Yun and Ronnie Chiang Chew Bang of cash, Apple iPhones, a Macbook, credit cards and various personal items.

It is further claimed that they received items belonging to Mr Coladonato and Mr Chew Bang.

On the afternoon in question, passengers from the Disney and Royal Caribbean Cruiselines were part of two separate groups touring the Bahamas Association for Social Health’s (BASH) Earth Village when they were attacked by two men on the track road of what used to be the area of the Perpall Tract well field.

Green, also known as Frederick Neely, and Lockhart denied the nine charges against them.

Before being excused on Wednesday, January 23, for closed discussions between counsel and the judge, the jury had heard the evidence from a number of witnesses, including Elizabeth McDonald of Toronto, Canada, and Edena Farah, a tour guide.

Ms McDonald told the jury how her stop-over visit to Nassau as a cruise passenger ended with her and other tourists being ordered by gunmen to lie in the dirt to await their turn to be robbed after watching their female tour guide gun butted to the ground.

Ms McDonald recalled the “traumatic experience” in which she said she knew the guns the two robbers held were real after two shots went off.

The tour guide, who took nine cruise ship visitors on Segways through a trail in Earth Village, said it never crossed her mind that they were about to be robbed when a man walked out of the bush with a gun.

Ms Farah said she “almost” thought the man was a part of the Caribbean Segway Tour, because of how “easily” he walked out of the bush.

“It didn’t register until he put the gun in my face and said, ‘Get the f* down’,” she said.

Ms Farah’s description of the robbers was contested by Mr Gomez II.

Cpl 2190 Valentino Smith also testified in court and exhibited cameras, wallets, and money allegedly stolen from the tour group during the robbery.

When the jury returned to court on Tuesday, Justice Jones directed the jury to acquit both accused men of the charges.