Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Judge: Police ‘murky the waters’ in Hasani Frett murder case

Judge: Police ‘murky the waters’ in Hasani Frett murder case

High Court Judge Thomas Astaphan has admonished the police for seeking to “murky the waters” as it relates to their investigation into the fatal shooting of a man on Sunday, February 12 this year.
Hasani Frett was curiously charged with murder, inflicting grievous bodily harm, and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life after surveillance footage of the incident showed multiple masked bikers surrounding Frett’s vehicle while he and a male passenger were inside. The passenger opened fire killing one of the bikers before fleeing.

Judge Astaphan raised his concerns about the police during Frett’s successful bail hearing last Friday.

According to the judge, the investigative officer’s sworn affidavit, which the Prosecution relied on to object to Frett’s bail application, was largely baseless and speculative.

Citing the affidavit, the Prosecution argued that the “firearm (firearms)” used to commit the offence was still at large and that Frett, if granted bail, could make efforts to “further conceal and possibly destroy these/this weapon(s)”.

But Judge Asphan raised two main concerns about that argument. The first surrounds the fact that the authorities kept suggesting that there were potentially multiple guns involved in the shooting. However, based on surveillance footage captured of the incident and a subsequent ballistics report on all the spent shells recovered after the shooting, only one gun was seen and used.

The judge’s second contention was the police and prosecutor’s choice to use the words “further conceal”, which suggests that Frett had made previous attempts to hide the weapon. When called on by the court to explain how he came to that conclusion, the investigating officer said it was because Frett had removed the license plates from his vehicle to ‘hide from the police’ after the shooting happened. But Judge Astaphan said the reasoning was strikingly speculative and said it was far more likely that Frett was in hiding from the group of armed bikers that surrounded his vehicle and made threatening gestures on the night in question.

Judge Astaphan said the authorities’ reasoning only served to “murky the waters by inferring that he (Frett) had a gun/guns”.

He described the statements as misleading and suggested that they prejudice Frett. He further said that most of the Prosecution’s arguments to oppose bail were “hollow speculation” and lacked factual evidence.

In the end, Judge Astaphan granted Frett $80,000 signed bail with a $20,000 cash component.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
×