DPP Decides No Charges In Three Coroner’s Inquest Cases

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The Director of Public Prosecutions has decided not to follow the recommendations of coroner’s juries in three inquests, while deciding that charges will be filed in one.

The officers involved in the shootings of Deangelo Evans, Elroy Stubbs and Ernest Forest, Howard Johnson and Richard Bastian breathed a collective sigh of relief when they were informed that they would not be prosecuted after juries returned verdicts of homicide by manslaughter.

However, Sergeant Antoine Sweeting, Corporal Deangelo Rolle, and Sergeant Jamal Johnson weren’t so fortunate as they were committed to stand trial for manslaughter in the 2021 shooting death of Azario Major.

The officers will be arraigned in the Supreme Court next month.

Meanwhile, the DPP has yet to make a decision regarding the fates of the officers involved in the shooting deaths of Gino Finley Jr and Shanton Forbes.

The officers involved in the matters were ordered to return to court on December 2.

Arrest warrants remain outstanding for former police officers Shando King and Samuel Ferguson, whom the jury recommended face a charge of manslaughter for the death of Valentino Johnson.

Unlike in the Supreme Court, coroner’s juries do not determine criminal liability