A jury of 12 remains locked down in deliberation to determine the fate of 23 year-old Justin Orillana, the man who was charged with the murder of his 38 year-old stepfather, Cecil Thompson.
In his trial which started last week, the prosecutor, Crown Counsel Thalia Meagan Francis, called several witnesses to testify but the key witnesses were the arresting officer, and another police officer who Orillano allegedly gave an oral confession.
Both officers testified that Orillana, after being detained and duly cautioned, reportedly confessed that he was at Thompson's Vernon Street home at around 7 p.m. on March 27, 2007, he stabbed Thompson. He reportedly said that he did it out of anger, and he didn't mean for Thompson to die.
While he didn't admit directly in this statement to stabbing Thompson, he said that he threw away the bloody clothes when he fled to Hattieville. One of the officers testified that when he asked Orillana to clarify certain sections of his statement, he admitted to stabbing Thompson.
After calling several other witnesses, the prosecutor closed her case, and Orillana's defence attorney, Carlo Mason, called him to the stand to testify.
He categorically stated that he wasn't at the Vernon Street house when this murder took place.
He also refuted any claims that he gave any statement to police, and he went on further to say that he never had any verbal conversations whatsoever with any police officer when he was detained and eventually charged.
Because the jury and Justice Troadio Gonzalez requested it, the prosecution called 2 other witnesses to rebut Orillana's claim that he lived in Hattieville.
The jury retired at around 3:25 p.m. this afternoon, and at news time, they remain in deliberation about Orillana's guilt or innocence. We will have an update later in the newscast about the verdict from the jury.
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