Roger Pratt Trial: Defence Questions Widow!

Widow Margaret Pratt returned to the witness stand on Monday as the murder trial for her deceased husband resumed. Last week fifteen jurors heard testimonies from Mrs. Pratt, United States resident Scott Davis and local police officer Philip Taylor. Director of Public Prosecutions Daarsrean Greene had only a few more questions for Pratt on Monday. She told the court that both she and her husband were swimmers. She recalled formally identifying her husband’s body at Victoria Hospital on January 20, 2014, with Dr. Stephen King in attendance. Defence attorneys Sandy John, Alberton Richelieu, David Moyston and George Charlemagne were then given the opportunity to cross-examine.

During her testimony last Tuesday, Roger Pratt’s widow had testified that following the attack on their yacht Magnetic Attraction, she had noticed a horseshoe buoy in the water.  Only Richelieu—the lead defence attorney— questioned the witness. 

“Before you retired for bed that night,” he said, “was the horseshoe buoy attached to the yacht?”  

“It was,” Pratt replied.

 “After the attack was concluded, you observed the horseshoe buoy in the water?”

Pratt responded in the affirmative.

“Did you detach that horseshoe buoy?” 

The witness said she did not.

Richelieu: “Would I be correct to say that the horseshoe buoy can be used as a safety equipment to throw to a person in the water?”

Pratt: “You would be correct.”  

On Tuesday Dr. Sherwin James took the stand. He testified that on January 18, 2014, he examined the Pratt couple at St. Jude Hospital’s emergency department. Roger Pratt had no vital signs; there was no spontaneous breathing, heartbeat or pulse and the victim’s pupils were fixed and dilated. There were superficial lacerations to the left side of Roger Pratt’s forehead, eyebrow, top lip and mouth. There was water draining from the nostrils. The patient was pronounced dead at about 12:08 a.m. 

As for his wife Margaret, the doctor said she had superficial lacerations on the right side of her nasal bridge, right elbow and the top of her head. She also had a left black eye. X-rays of her skull and facial bones revealed no fractures. She was subsequently discharged on pain medication and antibiotics. Asked by the DPP for his opinion on the degree of force used to administer the injuries, Dr. James said severe force was applied, possibly with a blunt object. Under cross-examination by Richelieu the witness admitted fist blows   could possibly have caused the injuries.

Police officer Phillip Taylor was then recalled to the stand. At the behest of the DPP the officer identified several photographs taken during the post-mortem examination. Seated in the public gallery, Margaret Pratt looked, at times shaking her head. Officer Taylor testified that he collected numerous exhibits during the course of his investigation and submitted them to the forensics lab at Tapion on January 3, 2020. They included a blood card, buccal swab and right and left fingernail swabs of the deceased; also two pistol grips and a blue bandana. He testified that on February 3, 2020 he collected all of the exhibits from the lab. With gloved hands, Officer Taylor unsealed an evidence bag, from which he extracted a blue bandana that he held up for the purposes of the jurors.

When he returned to the stand on Wednesday he held up the two pistol grips and testified that he found one at about 2 a.m. on January 18, 2014 in the yacht’s wheelhouse. He discovered the other on the deck when he returned to the ship about 10:00 am that same day. In earlier evidence, Taylor had stated he only photographed one of the grips. Alberton Richelieu asked the witness whether he agreed that he should carry his photography kit with him at all times to crime scenes. The officer agreed.

“And so, on 18 January, 2014,” said the attorney, “were you armed with your photography kit?” Taylor said he had the kit when he retrieved the second pistol grip. Richelieu then asked the officer whether he would agree that he did not take a photograph of the pistol grip when it was retrieved. “That’s correct,” said Taylor. 

The attorney moved on to the various exhibits collected at the scene. Taylor testified that all were collected between January 18 and 19, 2014 and that they were kept in secure storage—in an office at Vieux Fort police station assigned to the Scenes of Crime officers. On January 3, 2020 the exhibits were submitted to the forensic lab. Richelieu: “And so you will agree that six years later, they were submitted to the lab for testing?” 

“Yes, that’s correct,” Taylor replied. 

Attorney George Charlemagne asked the witness whether the exhibits were moved at any point to another location. Taylor testified that they were moved, only to be handed over to the exhibit keeper in 2019. Asked for an explanation as to why it took so long before this handing over, Taylor stated that from 2014 “until recently”, the Scenes of Crime office did not have a dedicated exhibit keeper. In addition, there was no designated time in which exhibits should be submitted. He further testified that exhibits are handed over on a case-by-case basis, depending on availability of space at their storage unit. 

In questioning the witness, attorney Sandy John focused on the two pistol grips. He queried why they were found at different times. The officer testified that on both visits to the vessel, he had carried out diligent searches. As to why he did not find both pistol grips during the first visit, the witness said: “I just didn’t. That’s why we go back to a scene, to ensure that the entire scene is covered thoroughly. I just did not see it. I searched but did not see it at the time.” During his first visit at 2 a,m. said Taylor, “there was some lighting on the boat but not much”. He could not recall if any other individual, police officer or layperson went on the boat between his first and second visit. 

The pathologist Dr. Stephen King said Roger Pratt suffered blunt force trauma to the head, but aspiration was the main contributing cause of death. Dr. King had conducted the post-mortem examination on Roger Pratt on January 20, 2014. On the witness stand he disclosed his many findings: “There were seven lacerations to the left side of the face; internal inter-cranial bleeding on the right side of the brain; disk damage with bleeding on the 6th and 7th vertebrae of the neck; stomach content in the nose and mouth, and a fracture on the 7th and 8th left ribs. There was also bloodstained fluid in both sides of the chest, and stomach content and inhaled water in the airways. The lining of the chest cavity and lungs showed small haemorrhages related to aspiration, and resulting in asphyxia.”

Dr. King also stated that there was a contusion of 2.5 cm in the left temporal area. This, he said, was consistent with a coup injury—contact on a surface with a moving head. “There’s a sudden stop,” he explained, “resulting in a contrecoup injury to the right side of the head. He stated that it was moderate force, which explains why there were no broken bones. Dr. King said there were two possible ways this injury could have happened: a fall to the left side of the head or a push of the head into a linear blunt surface. Dr. King stated that he did not consider a fist to be a linear blunt surface. Asked by jurors if a pistol could be considered a linear blunt object, Dr. King replied in the affirmative, and highlighted the shape of a pistol’s butt/grip. 

The final witness on Wednesday was Vieux Fort resident Annella Slyvester, who testified that she had known defendant Richie Kern for over 22 years. She recalled that some time on the afternoon of January 19, 2014, Vieux Fort police officers, along with Richie Kern, came to her house. Slyvester said she directed the officers to a pit latrine about 15 feet from her residence. “I saw them digging the toilet,” she testified. “They dug up clothes.” At the request of the DPP, she identified Richie Kern by pointing to him. Responding to a question from the jurors, the witness said she had not noticed anyone placing the clothes in the toilet.

The trial continues on Monday.