The V.I. Justice Department may have seriously erred when it asked the Territorial Court to dismiss with prejudice a high-profile murder case, in order for the case to be prosecuted in federal court.
District Court Judge Thomas K. Moore has ordered federal and local prosecutors as well as defense attorneys for Deshaune Harrigan to comment on whether the dismissal of the case with prejudice at the local level also precluded the case from going forward in District Court.
In a Nov. 9 order, Moore asked whether "the prosecution's dismissal with prejudice of the territorial information against the defendant in Territorial Court affects the authority of the local government to prosecute the defendant on the identical territorial charges in federal court?"
He asked prosecutors Guy H. Mitchell for the V.I. Justice Department, Jerry Massie of the U.S. Justice Department and defense attorney Michael Joseph to file briefs commenting on whether the motions that have been filed in the case amount to an acquittal because of the single-sovereign jurisdiction which applies to the Virgin Islands.
Under such jurisdiction, actions to dismiss with prejudice on the local level bars prosecution of the identical charges on the federal level. "What consideration should be given to the apparent motivation to enhance the government's chances for conviction by dismissing in Territorial Court and recharging by grand jury indictment in District Court?" Moore asked.
Moore also wants the attorneys to comment on whether it was an abuse of the process for the government to use the federal grand jury to investigate local charges even though similar local charges were filed months earlier in Territorial Court. He also wanted to know whether the Territorial Court case was already set for trial when the federal grand jury was utilized.
And Moore questioned whether the government used the evidence compiled by the federal grand jury to raise the local murder charge from second-degree to first-degree murder for which the penalty of conviction is life in jail without the possibility of parole. Finally, Moore noted that the local government has had the authority to create its own grand jury since 1984. He ordered that the filings by the attorneys be submitted by Dec. 8.
Earlier this month, Territorial Court Judge Edgar D. Ross reluctantly dismissed murder and weapons charges against Harrigan so the federal court could assume jurisdiction in prosecuting the case. But the government's motion to dismiss brought a severe tongue-lashing by Ross to Justice Department prosecutors.
Ross said at the time that such a move gives the impression that the local government is less than capable of prosecuting murder and other "part one" crimes, which prior to 1994 were tried in federal court. Harrigan's attorney, Michael Joseph, who was not available for comment on Moore's order Tuesday, had said he would challenge any attempt to have the murder case tried in federal court.
Assistant Attorney General Guy H. Mitchell is expected to prosecute the case when it goes to trial. The U.S. Attorney's Office will not be a part of the prosecution as the victim, Jason Carroll, was the son of First Assistant U.S. Attorney James Carroll.
