High Court Judge Colin Williams has upheld a “no case submission” put forward by his lawyer Zena Moore Dyer stating that the State had failed to discharge its duties and had not established a “prima facie case against her client because there was no evidence that the crime alleged was committed by the defendant.
In the circumstances, she argued that there was “no case” for her client to answer and so a verdict of “not guilty” was all that was to be returned.
Armour was arrested and charged with “manslaughter” for the death of American student Casey-Ann Schulman on December 1, 2012, Andrew Armour and the matter finally commenced on October 24, 2023, before Justice Colin Williams and a nine-member jury were empaneled to deliberate on the matter.
Armour was piloting the boat “Passion” off the coast of Mero filled with American tourists when it struck the 22-year-old Schulman. At the time, the fourth-year foreign affairs major was part of a study at sea group of 54 students from the University of Virginia, who were visiting the island.
Police said the boat was slowly beginning to back up when its propeller came into contact with Schulman who was in the water.
She is said to have sustained major injuries to all parts of her body and was pronounced dead at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Roseau.
After listening to the arguments of defense counsel Zena Dyer and the response from Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Sherma Dalrymple, the Judge ruled that there was “insufficient evidence” to have the jury deliberate on the matter, hence upholding the “no case submission” and instructed the jury to return a verdict of “no guilty” against Andrew Armour for the charge of Manslaughter.
This is horribly confusing! Good news for the Armours, no doubt, but someone was chopped up by the propeller of a boat that he has not denied he was piloting. did she throw herself in harm’s way? Was Armour negligent? How is it that there is no case? Additionally, why did it take so long for this matter to be heard?
A couple corrections on the above article.
I was arrested 5 months and ten days after the incident. Not on the day it happened.
One month before that, the family got lawyers in the us to agitate the case.
The state could not find any evidence of gross negligence.
The autopsy report indicated that the young lady had drowned. It is possible to drown and then get chopped up. But, not possible to get killed by the prop and then drown.
The propeller cannot pull a person into the propeller at idle speed.
And yes the young lady did dive into the propeller area ….. . Which is very close to where the coupe was “kissing” after feeling the thrust from the prop on their bodies
And yes, both pieces of her swim suit were on the prop /propshaft after the trip from Mero to Anchorage.
And yes, she was naked when I pulled her out of the water.
It’s been a long twelve years with this on my reputation.
I just wish that she had just come to me or one of my crew. Would have given her my clothes off my back and then retrieved her bathsuit
The issue of license was brought up. In 2010 I spearheaded a program at Anchorage where we certified 19 captains. Worked with maritime division here and OnDeck navigation school in Antigua. I was one of the 19!
No head count would have been done as we were not yet ready to leave that site.
Hope this clears matters open for any questions
Boat biz is what I do
Boat biz is all I do