The Hospital Ground man charged with the shooting death of 18-year-old Jason Carroll two weeks ago in downtown Charlotte Amalie has pleaded not guilty to murder and gun charges.
As expected, Deshaune Harrigan, 24, entered the plea and requested a jury trial. In the short proceeding Thursday at Territorial Court, defense attorney Michael Joseph requested the case be heard by a St. Croix judge given the close ties between judges on St. Thomas and the U.S. Attorney's Office. The victim is the son of First Assistant U.S. Attorney James Carroll.
Judge Ishmael Meyers said the case will likely be assigned to Judge-designate Audrey Thomas-Francis, though she still must be confirmed by the full Senate. Thomas-Francis may recuse herself from the case because she worked at the U.S. Attorney's Office as an assistant U.S. attorney.
Meyers set July 7 as the date for discovery and presentation of evidence and July 21 as the deadline for filing motions in the case. Harrigan remains jailed in lieu of $350,000 bail.
Meyers declined to hear motions by Joseph to reduce bail and by prosecutors to increase bail for Harrigan, who was arrested the day after the downtown shooting.
In other court action, the two suspects charged in the 1999 death of Ferlyn Harris in Carnival Village have entered not guilty pleas. Khali Ubiles and Alvin Harris appeared briefly before Meyers to enter a plea and request a jury trial.
The murder case has also been assigned to Thomas-Francis. It was learned in Thursday's arraignment that an arrest warrant has been issued for a third suspect in Harris' death, Abijah Brown. He has been identified as the triggerman in the shooting. Ubiles and Harris were arrested last month after a year-long investigation.

Gov. Charles Turnbull has promised public school teachers they will see a pay increase in the near future.
Addressing a small group of members of the St. Thomas-St. John Federation of Teachers on Thursday, Turnbull said he has worked out a formula for the increase but did not disclose the terms.
The announcement came when Turnbull emerged from Government House on St. Thomas to address about two dozen members of the teachers union who had marched on the governor's office to demand to know how the administration plans to repair public schools over the summer.
"I have asked the government's chief negotiator, Karen Andrews, to meet with your representatives to negotiate some improvement in your salaries," Turnbull said, assuring public school teachers that they will see an increase in pay. And "repairs will be carried out during the summer" to improve physical conditions at the schools. Turnbull also said funds have been identified to purchase textbooks and classroom supplies.
Teachers marched on St. Thomas and St. Croix on Thursday to express their appreciation for the governor's declaration of a state of emergency in education last month, but also to ask how the administration would encourage teachers to remain in the school system. Many have served notice that they will not return to the classroom in September.
Government House said Thursday that a task force has been developed and is working on expediting repairs at several schools under the declared state of emergency in education. The government task force is chaired by Turnbull's chief of staff, Juel Molloy.
The march on Government House followed a rally at the Emancipation Garden where teachers union president Glen Smith called on the administration to detail its plan to bring about changes in education.
"What we have is a crisis in our schools right now," said Smith, who is running for senator in November. "We were pleased, excited and happy…but now we need to see a clear and specific action plan for these repairs at our schools."
National representatives of the AFT who are on island said a meeting is planned Friday with the governor, the local presidents of the union and the national AFT representatives.
"We again will implore the governor to come forward with the plan, and as we have in the past, we will offer assistance to the administration," said Nat LaCour, executive vice president of the national AFT.

Innovative Communication Corp. officials Thursday tried to lay to rest claims that the company is trying to take advantage of the V.I. Telephone Corp.’s tax breaks by placing employees of its subsidiary companies on Vitelco’s payroll.
Thomas Minnich, ICC’s chief operating officer, and Holland Redfield, ICC’s vice president of corporate affairs, were responding to allegations by Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg that ICC was padding Vitelco’s payroll with workers from its subsidiaries to meet Industrial Development Commission tax benefits and to subsidize ICC’s other enterprises.
The phone company was granted the tax benefits in a controversial move made during former Gov. Roy Schneider’s administration three years ago. The breaks exempt Vitelco from property taxes, gross receipts and excise taxes, and from 90 percent of income taxes.
Minnich did say that over the last year, ICC had consolidated several subsidiary functions under Vitelco, including accounting, computer specialists, managers and installers in engineering, administrative assistants, security and customer service. But he said Vitelco closely monitors work done for it by the subsidiary employees and then charges the sister companies accordingly.
Minnich said the shuffling of employees among ICC’s companies — which include Vitelco, Vitelcellular, Vitelcom, the Virgin Islands Daily News, St. Thomas-St. John Cable TV, St. Croix Cable TV, ICC TV and V.I. Powernet — is allowed under federal communications law and audited by several entities, including the IDC’s review of quarterly employee headcount reports.
"It’s not an unusual move to consolidate positions in the company," Minnich said. "These consolidations are reasonable because they bring about savings. The big thing to understand is costs are allocated across the board."
Minnich said ICC and Vitelco are "audited by too many people" to try to take advantage of the phone company’s tax breaks.
"Plus it would just be foolish to do so," he said.
According to Redfield, Vitelco has 466 employees, which exceeds the IDC mandate of 421. He said it is the phone company’s responsibility to determine what work is performed by its employees.
In addition to his payroll-padding allegations, Donastorg said Vitelco was purchasing supplies for its sister companies in order to avoid paying taxes, a claim Redfield also disputed Thursday. He said ICC subsidiaries don’t purchase goods and materials from Vitelco. Each company has its own budget for such purchases and pays the appropriate taxes.
As for a list of Vitelco employees that Donastorg said was padded with workers from ICC’s subsidiary companies, Minnich said he hadn’t seen it and therefore couldn’t comment.
Donastorg, meanwhile, said he would forward the list of names on Vitelco's payroll to the attorney general. He also said he would contact the Federal Communications Commission because Vitelco is a public utility.
Donastorg also recalled Redfield’s stint in the Senate, which included an effort to restructure the IDC program.
"He created legislation to get two new tax categories in the IDC benefits — telecommunications and banking. What does that say?" Donastorg asked.
Donastorg said shuffling around subsidiary employees could create chaos, making it difficult for anyone to monitor what was happening.
"How about the Marriott hotels doing that?" he asked.

Bruce Flemon, the president of the St. Thomas-based Mobile Food Vendors Association, came to Cruz Bay this week looking to organize. But as he quickly discovered, most St. John mobile vendors don't get around much any more.
"It's hard for me to go mobile," Arthur Hercules of Hercules Pate Delight said of his well-anchored modified kitchen van. "It's got no wheels, no engine. I was broke, so I sold my engine. So I have no choice but to turn it into a restaurant." Which, many would say, it already is, except on the government records.
Hercules was one of about a half dozen vendors who showed up Tuesday night at the vendors association meeting at the Legislature Building in Cruz Bay. The association was organized on St. Thomas in April when the Licensing and Consumer Affairs Department stepped up its enforcement on food stands that don't pack up and move at night.
And Flemon readily acknowledged that's something St. John vendors simply can't do. "We found out that 90 percent of the vendors on St. John are stationary and can't become mobile," he said.
Flemon is a retired Chicago firefighter who moved to St. Thomas and opened a grilled chicken stand on wheels. So far, he said, he has enlisted about a dozen members there, and together they've "chased" such events as the recent Tom Joyner Juke Jam and last weekend's calypso show featuring The Mighty Sparrow and Whadablee, both in Lionel Roberts Stadium.
It was his hope, Flemon said, to add at least 10 St. John vendors to his association membership, but right now he's looking at five or six. And among those are "formerly mobiles" – Hercules' wheel-less van, a year-'round Carnival booth and a roadside van with a canvas tent cafe.
Licensing and Consumer Affairs officials figured there were hundreds of mobile food vendors on St. Thomas. Association organizers think the number is much lower, discounting those who can't roll or be towed up the road.
Flemon pitched the idea of forming an association that would offer some of the protections and benefits of a union. For example, he said, vendors as a group could obtain affordable liability insurance, promote mobile food fairs and attract group discounts from food and beverage distributors.
Hercules said he thought Flemon "had some good ideas." But he added, "It could have been a better turnout."
On the other hand, Patrick Joseph, operator of Patrick's Native Delight, said he wasn't keen on joining the group. He said he felt those in the association were bringing in their own agenda. If St. John vendors were to organize, Joseph said, he'd be more open to a group formed by those on island.
Joseph said he has operated his business on the same spot for more than 20 years. If the government wants to make him do something about his mobile food stand, he said, it will have to meet him at the business and tell him what he has to do.
Licensing and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Andrew Rutnik announced in April that he would soon send compliance officers around to every licensed mobile vendor on St. John soliciting their agreement to comply with the conditions of their licenses or apply for regular restaurant license. Restaurants are required to have hot and cold piped water, electricity, a water heater and a restroom.
The stationary food stand issue has also come up on St. Thomas, Flemon said. He said he hopes to point the non-mobiles to help available through small business association programs.
To improve their lot through collective action, Flemon said, St. John's vendors would have to start thinking more about group interest and less about self-interest. "We're trying to get them to organize and get them to stop thinking, ‘What about me? What about me?' " he said.

A 10 a.m. meeting of the Senate Rules Committee Thursday which commenced at 11:10 saw the unanimous approval of the nomination of ex-Senate president Hugo Dennis Jr. to the Public Employees Relations Board.
Dennis, who already wears many hats, said the appointment would be a challenge, admitting that, along with serving as vice chair of the AARP Legislative Council and managing his electrical company, he also has an obligation to his tennis game, "which is no secret."
In addition to having served in the Legislature, Dennis has been both assistant and acting commissioner of Housing, Parks and Recreation. He was the founding president of both the St.Thomas-St. John Federation of Teachers and the Central Labor Council of the Virgin Islands. He stated to the committee, "Be it known, I am a trade unionist."
Dennis said his strong labor background qualifies him for a position on the board. "The disputes that come to PERB should be the exception, and not the rule," he added.
Committee chair Violet Anne Golden asked which departments in government have the most cases brought before the board. Dennis replied, "You have given me my first marching orders." He said he intended to write the board chairman to look into that matter immediately.
Dennis will succeed Riise Richards, whose term has expired.
Voting were Sens. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Golden, Judy Gomez, Almando "Rocky" Liburd and Vargrave Richards. Committee member Adelbert Bryan was absent. The nomination will now go to the full Senate for a vote.

The Senate Rules Committee passed four bills, held another, and let one die in committee Thursday.
Starting off the meeting, committee chair Violet Anne Golden read a letter from V.I. Housing Authority executive director Conrad Francois II objecting to a bill to consolidate VIHA with other government agencies. The bill, proposed by Senate president Vargrave A. Richards at the request of the governor, seeks to combine VIHA with the Housing, Parks and Recreation Department and the Housing Finance Authority.
But that is not all the cumbersome bill covers. It contains provisions that affect the police, taxis, and adult education functions, Francois noted. He recommended that the consolidation of territorial housing functions "stand alone, and be separated from any other . . . unrelated mattters." The bill, for example, includes a section authorizing the police commissioner to "establish fees to defray the cost of providing extra police officers during concerts and similar events."
The measure was held in committee at the call of the chair. Golden said she expected it would be addressed again soon.
A bill which would make it a felony to furnish false information to peace officers during the investigation of a felony, when put up for vote, did not get a second on the motion and died in committee. The bill, sponsored by Operations Committee chair Gregory Bennerson, was passed by that committee last week by a vote of 6-0.
The approved bills are to:
– enact the Emergency Management Assistance Compact Act,
– increase mandatory penalties for armed robbery to seven years from three years,
– grant peace officer status to the Legislature's security personnel, and
– change the effective date of the 911 Emergency Services Fund tax from Jan. 1 to April 1 of this year. At the direction of the government, the tax is collected as a monthly $1 surcharge on telephone bills by the V.I. Telephone Corp., which in fact began assessing the fee in its April billings.
Three of the four bills passed unanimously. Sen. Judy Gomez cast the sole "nay" vote on the measure to increase penalties for armed robbery.
Attending the meeting were Sens. Bennerson, Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Golden, Gomez, Almando "Rocky" Liburd and Richards. Committee member Adelbert Bryan was absent. The four measures approved now go to the full Senate for a vote.

The Senate Rules Committee passed four bills, held another and let one die in committee Thursday.
Starting the meeting, committee chair Violet Anne Golden read a letter from V.I. Housing Authority executive director Conrad Francois II objecting to a bill to consolidate VIHA with other government agencies. The bill, proposed by Senate president Vargrave A. Richards at the request of the governor, seeks to combine VIHA with the Housing, Parks and Recreation Department and the Housing Finance Authority.
But that is not all the cumbersome bill covers. It contains provisions that affect the police, taxis and adult-education functions, Francois noted. He recommended that the consolidation of territorial housing functions "stand alone, and be separated from any other . . . unrelated mattters."
The bill, for example, includes a section authorizing the police commissioner to "establish fees to defray the cost of providing extra police officers during concerts and similar events."
The measure was held in committee at the call of the chair. Golden said she expected it would be addressed again soon.
A bill that would make it a felony to furnish false information to peace officers during the investigation of a felony did not get a second on the motion and died in committee. The bill, sponsored by Government Operations chair Gregory Bennerson, was passed by that committee last week by a vote of 6-0.
The approved bills are to:
– Enact the Emergency Management Assistance Compact Act.
– Increase mandatory penalties for armed robbery to seven years from three years.
– Grant peace officer status to the Legislature's security personnel.
– Change the effective date of the 911 Emergency Services Fund tax from Jan. 1 to April 1 of this year. At the direction of the government, the tax is collected by the V.I. Telephone Corp. as a monthly $1 surcharge on telephone bills. Vitelco in fact began assessing the fee in its April billings.
Three of the four bills passed unanimously. Sen. Judy Gomez cast the sole "nay" vote on the measure to increase penalties for armed robbery.
Attending the meeting were Sens. Bennerson, Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Golden, Gomez, Almando "Rocky" Liburd and Richards. Committee member Adelbert Bryan was absent. The four measures approved now go to the full Senate for a vote.

Havensight's Ocean City restaurant, which reopened its doors Wednesday evening after being closed nine days for health violations, appeared squeaky clean but totally deserted at lunchtime Thursday.
Owner Simon Chang appeared delighted, however, at being in business again. "No ships today," he said, by way of indicating the lack of a lunch crowd. How about Wednesday night?
"Oh," he said, smiling again, "last night we had customers." And did all on the staff have their food-handler cards?
Another smile. "Oh, yes, everybody."
Chang got an assist from an unexpected quarter when Environmental Health Division inspector Ethlyn Joseph – who had closed the establishment last week – arranged for him to get an exterminator and a steam cleaner. She said she took the action this week because "I knew they hadn't really gotten professionals in the place when they couldn't show me the receipts."
From the day after the closing, "They kept calling me back for inspections, and I would go there and it was the same – roaches everywhere," she said. "So, I decided to take a hand."
Joseph said Wednesday she had gotten the Ocean City management to hire one more cleaning company to haul out the last of the roaches and their leavings that she had found in a reinspection. She then allowed the restaurant to open in the early afternoon, but Chang waited until the dinner hour to put out the "Open" sign.
Joseph said she was glad to see the restaurant clean and back in business. But, she added that she would be stopping by again shortly "to look at the mirrors."

Neither Innovative Communication Corp. officials nor Sen. Adelbert Bryan’s attorney would comment Thursday on a lawsuit filed this week accusing the company’s security team of roughing up the senator at Emancipation ceremonies two years ago.
In his suit filed Tuesday in Territorial Court against former Gov. Roy L. Schneider and ICC owner Jeffrey Prosser, Bryan alleged that Prosser’s bodyguards assaulted him July 3, 1998, when he tried to enter a bandstand occupied by dignitaries attending ceremonies in Frederiksted for the 150th anniversary of Emancipation.
Bryan's suit alleges that he was invited to speak at the ceremony, yet his name had been removed from the official program. The omission was ordered by Schneider, Bryan alleges, and when he tried to gain entry to the bandstand, he was physically rebuffed by the ICC security team. The team was on stage ostensibly to protect ICC executives attending the event.
Bryan’s attorney, Jeffrey Moorhead, wouldn’t comment on the case, including how much Bryan was seeking in punitive damages. ICC owns the Virgin Islands Daily News, St. Croix Cable TV, St. Thomas-St. John Cable TV, ICC TV and a host of telecommunications companies in the territory.
"We can’t take on a media giant in the press," Moorhead said Thursday. "We’ll take the case on in court."
At a meeting Thursday with reporters, Thomas Minnich, chief operating officer of ICC, and Holland Redfield, ICC’s vice president for corporate affairs, said they would not comment on ongoing litigation involving the company.
Soon after the altercation, Bryan filed charges against the defendants while Schneider ordered then-Attorney General Julio Brady to investigate whether Bryan had broken any laws. Both actions seemed to have been settled behind the scenes until Bryan’s suit was filed Tuesday.

One of St. John's larger auto barges, the Capt. Vic, reportedly is en route to Martinique for the permanent repair of a 12-foot gash sustained in its hull when the vessel plowed into a coral reef near the mouth of Cruz Bay Harbor.
A Coast Guard officer from Station St. Thomas said the M/V Capt. Vic initially went to the British Virgin Islands to undergo temporary repairs. "From what I understand, it's currently in Tortola having repairs done to the bottom," Lt. Kevin Smith said. But he added that the barge "will be going to Martinique for permanent repairs."
The accident occurred around 2 a.m. Sunday, leaving the Capt Vic stranded on the reef near Stevens Cay. Two ferries, the Bomba Challenger and the Venture Pride, assisted with refloating operations, Smith said.
Investigators are looking at the possibility of pilot error. Seven people were reportedly aboard at the time of the grounding. No injuries were reported. Smith said investigators had spoken with crew members at the scene but had spoken with the pilot only by telephone.
The rip in the hull was described as 12 feet long and two to three inches wide.
Lewellyn Sewer, president of Republic Barge Service, which operates the Capt. Vic, could not be reached, but an assistant in the Republic office confirmed that the vessel was on its way to Martinique.
In addition to the Capt. Vic, another auto barge, this one operated by Boyson, Inc., was out of service Wednesday for the popular runs between Cruz Bay and Red Hook. This resulted in a back-up of delivery trucks and heavy equipment on the Cruz Bay bulkhead. At mid-morning, a traffic enforcement officer was dispatched from the Zone D Police command to direct the loading and unloading of the operating barges.