Aug. 9, 2006 – After two and a half days of testimony, the murder trial of Rennell Lettsome, charged with first-degree murder in the death of St. John resident David Geiger, has concluded.
Attorneys for each side made their closing arguments Wednesday afternoon, followed by Judge Brenda Hollar's instructions to the jury. The nine-woman, three-man jury will begin deliberations Thursday morning.
Lettsome — also charged with the near-fatal beating of Geiger's 14-year-old son, Nathan, and other charges, including arson — has pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution is basing its case on two signed confessions of Lettsome's, DNA evidence and on information from Amber Taylor, the ex-girlfriend of Lettsome and the mother of his son, who claimed lettsome admitted to the murder (See Prosecution Presents Details of Geiger Murder on First Day of Trial).
Tuesday the defense brought in two FBI forensic experts, blood expert Caroline Zervos and forensic DNA examiner Rhonda Craig.
According to the Wednesday edition of the V.I. Daily News, Craig testified that she compared the DNA collected from the swabs to that obtained at the crime scene and prepared a report placing Lettsome at the crime scene.
Crime scene DNA recovered from the mouth of a plastic jug – likely from saliva or cells in the mouth – matched a swab sample taken from Lettsome. In one of his confessions, Lettsome said he had drunk from a plastic water jug.
Blood on the jug also matched a sample drawn from Nathan Geiger, and Lettsome's blood was found on the balcony, Craig said.
Prosecutors Ernest Bason, chief of the V.I. Justice Department's Criminal Division, and William Kelly Evans, assistant attorney general, presented their case Monday and part of Tuesday. They presented nine witnesses, including Geiger's neighbors, B.V.I. and V.I. Police officers, and Nathan Geiger, among others.
Defense attorney Pedro Williams presented his case Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning.
Williams presented seven witnesses, according to the Daily News story. They included Jesse Chetham, Lettsome's mother. He asked them if Lettsome had a reputation for being honest and peaceful, to which all witnesses answered "Yes."
After the prosecution rested its case, Williams asked Hollar to acquit his client on all counts, citing a lack of evidence. Hollar denied the motion, agreeing with Bason that forensic evidence and the witnesses' testimony corroborated the confession Lettsome had made to police on Tortola. When Williams argued that Lettsome's confession could have been based on newspaper reports, Bason noted that Lettsome's statements demonstrated knowledge of unreported details of the crime.
Williams had earlier in the week objected to the court about Taylor's absence on Monday. Taylor is in Florida, and Bason has said she will not be called by the prosecution to testify. Taylor has made two affidavits to the V.I. Police, changing the second one to say Lettsome had told her he had murdered Geiger.
With Hollar's permission Wednesday, Williams read from various interviews with Taylor.
Williams related (in Taylor's words) that she was afraid of being killed, herself, by Jerome Potter, Lettsome's uncle, since she had accused Lettsome of the murder.
Williams then recalled Nathan Geiger to the stand. He asked him if he and his father had had a fight on the night of the murder, to which Geiger replied, "No."
He then asked Geiger about a discrepancy in the time that he had gone to bed on the night of the murder. "You told the court you had gone to bed at about 11 p.m., and documents show you told the police in Puerto Rico that you'd gone to bed at nine." Geiger then replied, "I had just awakened from being in a coma."
Closing Arguments
Bason presented his closing argument first Wednesday afternoon. "This man," Bason said, pointing at Lettsome, "walks into the Tortola police station, points at a picture in the newspaper and says, 'This is me, I did this.' He was nice and calm. He told about the clothes he had brought with him for a disguise.
"He signed a confession, signing on each individual page. A lawyer was brought in to notarize the statement. He was not forced or pressured. The B.V.I. police don't carry guns, and neither do the V.I. Police when they are in the BVI. He waited until Nathan went to bed. When he was asked why he went to Geiger's home, he said 'I went to kill him.'"
Turning to the jury, Bason reconstructed the crime: "Lettsome kills Geiger with a knife, a pipe and then he strangles him. He smashes Nathan in the face with the pipe. Then, he stops. Killing is hard work. He takes a drink of water from a jug."
Bason then turned to Williams. "Your witnesses said he was truthful and peaceful. He may be truthful, but he is not peaceful."
Bason then spoke of the DNA evidence, noting that the odds are one in 280 billion that Lettsome's DNA doesn't match. "That's more people than there are on the Earth," he said.
Turning to the jury, Bason concluded: "Find him guilty of first-degree murder. Find him guilty of first-degree assault. Find him guilty of arson and use of a deadly weapon. He has confessed; find him guilty."
Reminding jurors to keep an open mind, Williams said, "None of what has been said tells exactly what happened. There are no eyewitnesses."
Williams continued: "Nathan doesn't remember what happened."
Next, Williams pointed to the absence of Amber Taylor and accused the police of never following up on leads.
Williams continued by painting a portrait of Lettsome as a "peaceful" man, "concerned about the safety of his kids." He then questioned the accuracy of the DNA samples: "They're not right 100 percent of the time," he said. "How were they collected? The government sent them."
Evans then rebutted William's contentions about Lettsome's honesty. "He can't have it both ways," Evans said. "On the witness stand, they said how honest he is. Counsel now wants you to believe he made his confession up."
Speaking to the all-black jury, Evans said, "We all have kids or relatives in the states. Suppose your son or relative was being tried before an all-Caucasian jury in Montana. You would want that jury to fulfill its purpose. You are all sworn to the same oath. David Geiger has no one but you. He has no one else to turn to.
"This is not about David Geiger versus Rennell Lettsome. It is about the people of the Virgin Islands versus Rennell Lettsome,'' Evans said. "Come back with a verdict of guilty of first-degree murder. The evidence requires such a verdict. It is a decision that will follow you the rest of your life."
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