Where the Sun Doesn’t Shine, Part 2: Justice Silent on Witness Protection Reports

Law enforcement leaders regularly appeal to the public for information during periods of heightened criminal activity and spikes in homicide, but it’s important to know what safeguards — if any — are in place for Virgin Islanders who come forward.

In August alone, the V.I. Justice Department moved to dismiss dozens of felony cases — often because witnesses stopped cooperating with authorities or couldn’t be found. After prosecutors in May recommended dropping charges against two men accused of killing Stacie Schjang and Arnold Jarvis in 2022, V.I. Attorney General Gordon Rhea issued a statement explaining that the government’s case relied on a single witness who later recanted.

“In a criminal case, the prosecution must prove the defendant’s guilt ‘beyond a reasonable doubt.’ It is not enough to show that a defendant might, could, or even probably, have committed a crime,” Rhea stated. A V.I. Superior Court judge dismissed the cases without prejudice, allowing prosecutors to bring charges again if they receive new information.

According to court documents, Jarvis identified Schjang’s alleged killers and said he knew them from an ongoing feud between residents of the David Hamilton Jackson and John F. Kennedy housing communities. He was killed eight days later, and attorneys for the defendants argued that Jarvis’s testimony couldn’t be used in court because the Sixth Amendment guarantees all criminal defendants the right to face their accuser.

“The Defendant’s actions in killing Mr. Jarvis has made him unavailable to testify in these cases,” Assistant Attorney General Kippy Roberson fired back in a March court filing.