Andre Green.
A 28-year-old Port Royal man was sentenced to 12 years in prison Wednesday for the 2011 carjacking and kidnapping of a man at a town park.
At the conclusion of a two-day trial, jurors found Andre Green guilty of one count of carjacking and one count of kidnapping in connection with the June 2011 robbery of a man at Casablanca Park in Port Royal. He was found not guilty on the armed robbery charge.
The victim had been approached by an acquaintance at Spanish Trace Apartments, who asked for a ride to the park. The victim agreed and the man, along with Andre Green, got into the car. Once at the park, Green produced a pistol and held it to the victim's head, demanding money.
After stealing $30 and rummaging around the car in an unsuccessful attempt to find additional items to steal, Green forced the victim into the trunk and drove off. While on Ribaut Road, the victim found the emergency release lever and bailed from the moving vehicle. A witness called 9-1-1.
During the trial, the victim took the witness stand and refused to identify the defendant as the man who robbed him. Assistant Solicitor Patrick Hall used statements the victim made to police to prove the central facts of the case and elicited information that the victim had received threatening phone calls about his participation in the prosecution.
"It wasn't that the victim couldn't identify Green," said Hall, "it was that he wouldn't identify Green because he had been threatened and intimidated. I think the jury understood that."
Green had previously been convicted of a 2003 armed robbery.
Judge Derham Cole handed down a 30-year sentence that was suspended to 12 years in prison, plus five years of probation afterward. This means that Green must serve at least 85 percent of his 12-year sentence before he can be released. He will then serve five years probation. If he violates the terms of his probation, he would be sent back to prison to finish the remainder of his 30-year sentence.