St Jean pleads guilty to manslaughter

David St Jean of Portsmouth who received a 25-year prison sentence from trial judge Justice Birnie Stephenson for the murder of Clement James, 53 of Portsmouth at the Roseau High Court on Wednesday May 23, 2012 will return to court on Friday June 12, 2015 for sentencing on the lesser charge of manslaughter.

On appeal in 2014, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court ordered a re-trial for St Jean who gave James one stab wound to an arm on the Indian River Bridge at Portsmouth on Monday September 20, 2010.

Director of Public Prosecutions Evelina Baptiste applied to trial judge, Justice Errol Thomas to withdraw the old indictment and to replace with another which she would like read to the accused David St Jean when his retrial for murder came up at the Roseau High Court on Wednesday May 20, 2015.

Accordingly, the murder charge was withdrawn and replaced with a manslaughter charge to which St Jean pleaded guilty. Attorney for St Jean, Wayne Norde had no difficulty with that turn of event. He planned to put in a strong plea in mitigation to take in time already served on the previous conviction of murder and of course the plea of guilty.

The court is expecting a Welfare Division report to assist it in passing sentence.