A police constable on Monday denied raping a teenage girl and begged a jury to acquit him.
Daniel Smith, 21, who is on trial for the alleged rape of a 19-year-old woman on September 28, 2009, made an unsworn statement from the prisoner’s dock.
In the Bahamas’ corrupt and dysfunctional legal sytem, the accused has the option of making an unsworn statement to the jury, rather than having to testify under oath.
This process is almost always abused and statements made under these circumstances are almost always lies.
Smith was not subjected to cross-examination because he did not give sworn evidence. According to the young woman, she and her boyfriend were at Goodman’s Bay with another couple when Smith and his partner arrived.
Smith and his partner allegedly separated the women from their dates. He allegedly got into the alleged victim’s car and had her drive to Fox Hill Road south, where he allegedly raped her.
The woman alleged that she dropped Smith back to the Fox Hill Police Station and he told her that he could “get away with murder” because he was the nephew of a high-ranking policeman.
