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2 The Virgin Islands Daily News
VIRGIN ISLANDS
Friday, November 9, 2012

Prosecutor's home destroyed in suspected arson on St. Croix

By LOU MATTEI
Daily News Staff

ST. THOMAS — V.I. Police and V.I. Fire Service officials on St. Croix are investigating what they say is suspected arson at the home of a criminal prosecutor for the V.I. Attorney General's Office.
The Estate St. George home of Assistant Attorney General Kip Roberson was fully engulfed in flames when five Fire Service trucks responded to a 911 call about 11 a.m. Thursday, according to St. Croix Fire Chief Angel Torres Sr. and Attorney General Vincent Frazer.
Torres estimated that the home had been burning for about 15 minutes before the call came in. He said firefighters had to force their way through a motorized gate to gain access to the burning house. No one was inside, and no one was hurt in the blaze, but the home was completely destroyed, Torres said.
"It's a total loss," Torres said.
Torres said firefighters also found that surveillance cameras at the home had been tampered with.
"Someone cut the wires," he said. "The wires was pulled out and the screens were pulled out and thrown in the bushes."
Torres said firefighters found evidence of tampering on the doors to the home, which appeared that someone had tried to pry the doors open. The Fire Service did not leave the scene until 3:20 p.m., Torres said.
Torres said Thursday evening that the Fire Service had not contacted any witnesses at that point and that Roberson's home was located in an isolated area. He said he believed Roberson shared the home with another attorney, but he did not know the attorney's name.
"Apparently they were a couple, but it's an ongoing investigation," Torres said. "We gotta really follow up on some leads and stuff we're looking at."
Roberson could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.
Frazer declined to comment about Roberson's living situation. The attorney general said late Thursday that he had not yet been fully briefed on the fire, but he had a deputy on St. Croix looking into the question of whether the suspected arson could be connected to any cases Roberson was working.
"I hope not, but we will look into that," Frazer said.
Torres said the fire remains under investigation by the Police Department's forensics unit and the Fire Service's arson prevention unit.
Anyone with information about the fire can call the Fire Service at 773-9050 and ask for the arson prevention unit.

Elections boards' slow vote count violates V.I. law

By LOU MATTEI
Daily News Staff

ST. THOMAS — Both Boards of Elections in the Virgin Islands have run afoul of the V.I. Code and board policies in the wake of Tuesday's general election, from which paper ballots are still being tallied.
The V.I. Code requires the boards to count the votes for each candidate within a day of receiving ballot materials from the polling places: "Each board of elections, after having received all statements, books, lists, papers, vouchers, ballots, ballot boxes and district register from each polling district and polling place in its district, shall convene not later than one day following the receipt thereof and determine the total number of votes cast in the election district for each candidate."
The law states that the boards must convene no later than three days after receiving the aforementioned materials to tally votes for the Board of Education and Board of Elections races.
On Tuesday, a majority of the votes from all races were cast on electronic machines, and results from those ballots were available within hours of the polls closing.
However, widespread distrust of the machines led to a spike in the use of paper ballots — more than 4,500 — vote count and, in effect, hampered the boards' abilities to comply with the law.
Today marks the third day since the boards received all the ballots from the polling sites Tuesday night.
The St. Thomas-St. John Board hopes to finish counting the Senate races by the end of the day today before moving on to other races, according to board member Lorna Thomas.
The St. Croix Board is scheduled to begin counting its 2,781 paper ballots today.
Thomas, who helped on Thursday to oversee her board's tally of about 600 ballots in the Senate race, said the law makes little sense in the context of the territory's current paper ballots, which can be counted only by hand.
"Literally it would have been impossible to follow," Thomas said when asked about the law. "I don't see how we could have done that."
Thomas said the board should have new voting machines by the 2014 elections that can tally paper ballots automatically.
When asked about enforcing the section of the law cited above, V.I. Attorney General Vincent Frazer said he "would have to look at that and see."
The boards' handling of the paper ballots also has brought them into conflict with a Board of Elections policy.
Joint Board of Elections Chairman Rupert Ross Jr. said Thursday that the joint board passed a policy earlier this year requiring the boards to begin counting any paper ballots the night of the election. He said the policy never was put into writing, but it may exist in some form in minutes from the meeting. He also said the policy lacked an enforcement mechanism.
Ross said the intent of the policy, which passed by a 6-5 vote, was to ensure that processing of the paper ballots began as soon as possible. The sooner the counting begins, the easier it is to comply with another section of the law that requires the boards to certify a final vote count within 10 days of an election, Ross reasoned.
The certification deadline already was weighing on the mind of Thomas, who pointed out the St. Thomas-St. John Board has yet to touch locked ballot boxes containing absentee ballots and walk-in votes.
Elections Supervisor John Abramson Jr. has said the district processed 412 walk-in ballots and mailed 331 absentee ballots.
But Thomas was optimistic that the board was gaining momentum after a troubled start.
"Tempers were a little tight yesterday, but everyone's happy today," Thomas said. "The public was much quieter and accommodating today, and we appreciated them letting the judges to do their jobs."
Candidate Lawrence Olive, who earned 304 paper-ballot votes on Thursday to bump Lisa Williams from ninth place in the Senate race, said he told his supporters to use the paper ballots as a more reliable — and legal — alternative to the electronic machines.
"If the trend continues, I don't see no reason why I will not be in the top seven," Olive said. "It just goes to show you that the paper ballot is the true count."
— Contact reporter Lou Mattei at 714-9124 or email lmattei@dailynews.vi.

[Image Caption]
Daily News Photo by FIONA STOKES
St. Croix Board of Elections member Lisa Harris Moorhead looks on as board members and election judges sort and count ballots Thursday. The board issued a statement Thursday that it had finished sorting more than 2,700 ballots and will begin counting them today at the Election System Office in Sunny Isle Shopping Center.

[Election Update Box]
Election Update
Senate At-large
Craig Barshinger ................. 11,133
Wilma Marsh-Monsanto ...... 4,930
St. Thomas-St. John District
Clifford Graham ................... 6,840
Shawn-Michael Malone ..... 4,704
Myron Jackson ..................... 4,661
Janette Millin Young .......... 4,407
Clarence Payne ................... 3,851
Tregenza Roach .................. 3,793
Donald Cole ........................ 3,352
Justin Harrigan Sr. ............ 3,118
Lawrence Olive .................. 3,003
Lisa Williams ....................... 2,823
Horace Brooks .................... 2,610
Paul Alexander ................... 2,202
Sean Georges ..................... 2,147
Marvin Blyden .................... 2,125
Louis Willis ........................ 2,082
Alma Francis-Heyliger ....... 1,911
Kent Bernier Sr. ................. 1,800
Janelle Sarauw ................... 1,750
Stephen Frett ..................... 1,436
Cecilia Milliner-Emanuel ..... 1,191
Joseph Gumbs ................... 1,138
Kyza Callwood .................... 949
Shirley Sadler .................... 826
Elvin Fahie Sr. ................... 804
Neville Amey ...................... 727
Alan Friedman ..................... 642
Carol Berry ......................... 624
Omodoso Muhammad ...... 411
Cleone Marrishow ............. 327
Jodi Hodge ......................... 304
Josephine Lindquist ........... 290
Andreas Tietje .................... 272
Orial Webb ......................... 210
Walter Brown .................... 183
Charlesworth Halstead ......... 125
* Unofficial; as of Thursday.

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Daily News Publishing Company Inc. owned by Times-Shamrock Communications publishes The Virgin Islands Daily News daily, except Sunday, Christmas Day and New Year's Day, at 9155 Estate Thomas, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, VI 00802. First class postage paid at Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. U.S.V.I
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