Coast Guard officer faints while being cross examined in court

A coast guard officer fainted, falling sideways from of an elevated witness box while under cross examination at the Serious Offences Court Tuesday.

Coast Guard Officer Fitzroy Davis had finished offering his version of the events that occurred on February 22, 2019, when the coast guard, on patrol off the coast of Fancy, chased after a boat for miles before finally catching up to it, and boarding it.

However, Davis still had one more barrier to cross, that is the cross examination by lawyer Grant Connell, who was representing Mark Bristol, Marvin Alexander and Curton Allen, who are the defendants charged with having 292,376g of marijuana in their possession, for the purpose of drug trafficking, and for conspiring to conduct the offence of drug trafficking.

Suddenly Davis fell sideways off of the witness box, with an exclamation from Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne. The court officers only managed to catch him just as he touched the ground, and the limp coastguard officer was then carried by a number of other officers into a secure area.

In the shock that followed, the magistrate questioned why the officers hadn’t moved before. She told them that they can’t be robotic, and that they had to be vigilant.

Browne said that she dislikes persons hitting their head in that manner. “Oh my goodness…And he hit his head,” she said, noting that she had heard it.

“You see him coming down and you wait till you hear ‘boop’ on the ground?” she scolded.

“I’m looking at him before you know…and I’m seeing he looking like he going but I didn’t expect that…” the magistrate said.

Senior Prosecutor Adolphus Delplesche then requested that the matter be stood down. The coastguard officer, who had been chewing gum before he fainted, did not stay unconscious for long, and recovered by eating what appeared to be some yogurt.

However, a short time later, Davis recovered and when he returned the magistrate told him that if he was feeling lightheaded as they progressed to “please indicate.”

Davis was able to complete his cross examination and the trial was able to make significant progress.