The Supreme Court reversed the Superior Court's November 25, 2009 pre-trial detention order and remanded to the Superior Court with instructions to conduct a new pre-trial detention hearing, in accordance with its holdings therein, to determine whether Appellant should be detained pending trial. Specifically, the Court held that the provisions of 5 V.I.C. § 3504a(b) not abrogated by its prior decisions concerning pre-trial detention continue to govern the conduct of pre-trial detention hearings in local Virgin Islands courts. Additionally, the Court held that, because the trial court in this case did not ascertain the reliability of the hearsay statements underlying the People's exclusively hearsay evidence, the trial court erred in concluding that the evidence was clear and convincing that Appellant committed first degree murder.
Supreme Court Of The Virgin Islands