Another accused killer walked out of the Supreme Court a free man this morning. Today it was the now 25 year old Kent Pandy who has remanded for over three years for stabbing to death 18 year old Allen Sutherland on November 10th of 2006.
The case against Pandy fell apart after the main eyewitness Steven Gomez couldn’t be located. Senior Crown Counsel Yohhanhseh Cave called five witnesses – including Kirk Lamb. On the witness stand, Lamb denied giving police a caution statement in which he said that just minutes before the murder Pandy passed him on a bike and told him he was going to get Allen Sutherland. The prosecution closed its case this morning and that is when Justice Troadio Gonzalez directed the jury to acquit Kent Pandy.
Allen’s mother Joan Sutherland who had been waiting 4 years for justice was in the courtroom and fainted shortly after. She was at the KHMH up to news time.
This is actually the second time that the same murder charge against Pandy has been withdrawn. In October of 2008 when the case first went to trial, DPP Cheryl Lynn Vidal entered a nolle pros after the eyewitness refused to testify. Pandy was accused of witness tampering but no one was charged. Pandy was however immediately rearrested and charged for the murder.
Because he was acquitted in this trial, Kent Pandy cannot be retried for the murder of Allen Sutherland. The motive for the murder was reportedly a dispute over a video game console.
