Nov. 01--ST. CROIX -- After almost 10 months of investigation, V.I. police arrested one of their own on Wednesday and charged him in connection with the Jan. 5 shooting death of Kendall Petersen Jr. outside Petersen's Hospital Street, Frederiksted, home.
V.I. Police Officer David Stevens Jr., 29, appeared Wednesday before Magistrate Jessica Gallivan and was advised of his rights after being charged with involuntary manslaughter and third-degree assault.
Stevens appeared in court wearing a coral dress shirt and gray pin-striped pants. He was not handcuffed because he had been allowed to remain in the custody of the Police Department and not in the custody of the V.I. Corrections Bureau since his arrest at 6 a.m.
About 20 police officers, primarily from the Special Operations Response Team and dressed in black tactical gear, sat on one side of the courtroom.
About a dozen members of Petersen's family, mostly dressed in black, sat on the other side.
Tension filled the room as both sides listened to Gallivan's rulings, awaiting word from the court about Stevens' charges and the decisions that would determine the officer's fate in the case pending against him.
Gallivan advised Stevens that if he is convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison because each of the charges carry sentences of probation to five years in prison.
The judge set his bail at $50,000.
Gallivan also conducted Stevens' arraignment, during which he entered pleas of not guilty and requested a speedy jury trial.
The trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 7 before V.I. Superior Court Presiding Judge Darryl Donohue.
Petersen was shot during the early morning hours when officers executed a search warrant that police say was a part of an investigation into two homicides.
The affidavit that reveals specific information about the crime under investigation, the circumstances surrounding it and all the witnesses involved was placed under seal, by order of the court, and is not available to the public.
Defense attorney David Cattie made an oral motion asking that the affidavit be unsealed on a limited basis so he would have an opportunity to discus the details with his client.
Gallivan ordered the document unsealed and ordered that he not share the information with any third-party individuals.
While the affidavit remains off limits to the public, the Police Department had released a statement shortly after the shooting giving a chronological account of the incidents surrounding the shooting.
Police spokeswoman Melody Rames said at that time that police executed search warrants that included searches of six homes and five vehicles in the early morning hours in conjunction with two ongoing murder investigations.
The Police Department statement gave this account of events surrounding the shooting:
- The officers entered the residence about 6:30 a.m. and began securing the inside of the home while other officers began securing the area outside, including the back yard.
- Officers on the outside of the home saw a man -- now identified as Petersen -- leave the home carrying a firearm.
- Police ordered the man to stop several times, but he ran around the corner of the building, doubled back and "began advancing toward the police officers," according to a statement issued by the Police Department.
- Officers again ordered the man to stop, but he continued advancing toward the officers.
- A police officer -- now identified as Stevens -- fired one shot that hit the man in his upper body, and the man was taken to Luis Hospital for treatment.
A semi-automatic handgun "was recovered from the rear of the building. A waist holster which was located near the firearm was also taken into police custody," according to a statement Rames issued after the shooting.
The statement does not say whether Petersen was armed when he was shot.
During the advice-of-rights hearing Wednesday, Cattie made an oral motion asking that Stevens, who has been living outside of the territory since the shooting, be allowed to continue living outside the territory for his own safety.
"He has received a number of threats on his life since the shooting and had to relocate," Cattie said. "He waived extradition and came back voluntarily to face the charges, and we want to assure the court that he should not be considered a flight risk or danger to the community."
Assistant Attorney General Brenda Scales, told the court that her office is aware that Stevens may not be a flight risk and has no prior contact with the criminal justice system, but they can not lend a blind eye to the fact that someone is dead as a result of Stevens' actions. She asked that he be at least made to satisfy bail in the case.
After a brief sidebar conference with the attorneys and the judge, prosecutors had no objection to Cattie's motion to have Stevens released to the third-party custody of his mother and post 10 percent of the bail in cash in addition to property owned by his parents.
Gallivan ordered that Stevens' mother always have his contact information and address available for the court while the matter is pending.
She allowed Stevens to continue residing outside the territory, but he was ordered to have weekly contact by telephone with the probation office.
"I want it to be clear that if you violate any of the conditions imposed by this court that you will subject to incarceration while you await trial," Gallivan said.
Kendall Petersen Sr. said outside the courtroom that he believes the intention of the Police Department and the V.I. Attorney General's Office is to set Stevens free because he is charged with crimes that do not carry any minimum penalties.
Kendall Petersen Sr. said his son's killing was premeditated because Stevens had previously threatened Kendall Petersen Jr.'s life before the shooting occurred.
"He had a mission, and the Police Department opened the door for him to execute my son," Kendall Petersen Sr. said.
Kendall Petersen Sr.'s attorney, Martial Webster, said he was disappointed but not surprised that Stevens was not charged with first-degree murder. Webster also took issue with the fact that Stevens is not charged with the gun crime of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence, which carries a mandatory 15-year prison sentence.
"He committed these crimes, and he had a gun when he did it," he said. "It should be automatic, and it is always automatic in any other case I have seen in my 22 years of practice."
Webster said he sent a letter to Attorney General Vincent Frazer that two witnesses would testify that Stevens had threatened Kendall Petersen Jr. prior to his death and had threatened other witnesses. To date, no one from the Attorney General's Office has contacted the two witnesses, according to Webster.
Kendall Petersen Sr. said: "I want the people of this territory to wake up, because if they could execute my son and not be properly charged with it, it can happen to anyone else."
Cattie said the case is difficult and it is a tragedy that someone lost his life and that Stevens is now charged with the death. He said the Attorney General's Office on St. Croix determined that Stevens' actions were not criminal, but Frazer shopped the case over to St. Thomas, where investigators determined that Stevens' actions were beyond what was necessary and were criminal.
"I think that it is unfair for the attorney general to second guess the work of our devoted police officers from the comfort of his air-conditioned office," Cattie said. "Only unless he straps on a bulletproof vest and helmet and goes out there knocking on doors to execute warrants on violent criminals, he can not talk."
Cattie refuted allegations that Stevens was untrained, saying that Stevens is a seasoned officer with the necessary training needed to be on the team, and he acted accordingly when he came up against Petersen, who was known to have an aggressive and violent character.
"They were informed about what they were doing, and they went prepared for whatever came, and it came and Stevens acted," he said.
Frazer said Wednesday night that the case was a difficult one but the integrity of the investigation was never compromised. He defended his position to have the case investigated in St. Thomas.
Frazer said it is normal that anytime an arrest can affect police officers in a district for the case to be transferred to another district.
- Contact Fiona Stokes at 714-9149 or email [email protected].
Copyright 2012 - The Virgin Islands Daily News, St. Thomas
