PHILIPSBURG--Three men stood accused of various offences in connection with a fight that took place on Back Street on June 2, 2014. They were, however, cleared of most of the charges, including the assault and public violence aspect, because the police had failed to put sufficient detail in various statements.
The defendants were Kurt Joseph (34) on one side of the conflict, and Alberto Helligar (21) and Alexis Mauricia (20) on the other. A few weeks before the incident that led them to the court room, there had been an argument between Joseph and Helligar about a girl.
Helligar and Mauricia had seen Joseph, along with his friends, on Back Street on June 2 and Joseph had allegedly said that next time, he would shoot Helligar. "In St. Maarten, it's normal to say such a thing," Joseph told the court.
Helligar, upon seeing Joseph, set upon him, aided by Mauricia, and drew a knife with which he threatened Joseph. One of Joseph's friends came to his aid, and in the process, pepper spray was used, and Mauricia sustained a stab wound in the upper leg, which Mauricia and Helligar said that Joseph was responsible for.
In court, however, it turned out that neither man was sure that it was indeed Joseph who was responsible for either the stabbing or the pepper spray. They could not describe the incident in great detail and stated they had been blinded by the pepper spray. Helligar also said that it was dark at the time of the incident, although this cannot have been true as it was too early in the evening.
Mauricia, despite earlier giving a detailed statement to police, appeared to have forgotten those details once in court.
Joseph admitted making the threat, although he hadn't intended to carry it out, and admitted punching the other men in the fight.
Upon the police's arrival, the officers saw four men fighting, and they saw Helligar wielding a knife. Helligar's brother stated that, when he had arrived, Joseph had been on the ground. When Joseph wanted to rejoin the fight, the brother stopped him. The brother did not see Joseph with a knife or pepper spray.
The prosecutor asked for Joseph to be convicted of making the threat and of simple assault by punching the two men, and demanded a one-month suspended sentence with 40 hours of community service.
"Life in Back Street is rough," said the prosecutor. "But there is no excuse to use violence."
He asked for Helligar to be convicted of possession of the knife, making threats with the knife and public violence, and he asked for Mauricia to be convicted of public violence.
For Mauricia, he demanded 40 days' suspended imprisonment with 60 hours' community service, and for Helligar, who was responsible for "seeking confrontation," a two-month suspended sentence with 100 hours' community service.
The judge, however, had different ideas. He said that the statements drawn up by police officers continuously said that the men had been "fighting," but not how exactly they had done this. As a result, he said, there was insufficient evidence for Helligar and Mauricia to be convicted of public violence.
This resulted in Mauricia walking free. Helligar was found guilty of possessing and wielding his knife, and was sentenced to a one-month suspended sentence with 40 hours of community service.
Joseph, who had admitted punching the other men, was cleared of the action as the judge deemed it to be self-defence against the attack by the other men. He was, however, found guilty of making a threat. "It was your threat that started the incident," said the judge, who sentenced Joseph to a one-month suspended sentence.
