Twenty eight year old Knox Cumberbatch, charged with the murder of 21 year old Reynold Michael, was acquitted of the charge today in the court of Justice Herbert Lord.
The prosecution, represented by Crown Counsel Kaysha Grant, offered no further evidence after the chief witness, school warden Daphne Grant took the witness stand and said she cannot recall what happened around 11a.m on Thursday, July 23, 2009, when Michael was shot and killed.
The prosecution's case relied solely on the identification of the gunman and without Grant's testimony its case collapsed. As a result, Cumberbatch's attorney, Kareem Musa submitted that the case against his client should be dismissed. Justice Lord agreed and he directed the jury of 5 men and 7 women to return a formal verdict of not guilty.
Michael, a resident of Mex Avenue was running on West Canal Street near to Stanford Bridge TRYING to get away from his assailant when he was shot 3 times in his back.
