Mugshot of Jahmanie Morton. Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT
ST. CROIX — A man has been arrested after he violated the 24-hour house arrest order which formed part of his release conditions in a previous court matter.
Jahmanie Morton was arrested around 3:00 a.m. on Sunday after an individual reported that they had seen a gun on the floorboard of a vehicle. Officers traveled to the vicinity of a bar and lounge where they located the vehicle in question. According to the probable cause fact sheet, one of the officers shined a flashlight into the vehicle and observed what appeared to be a gun on the floorboard of the driver’s side. When the crowd began to disburse a man approached the passenger side of the vehicle and unlocked it with a key. Based on the statement from the officers, he then sat in the front passenger seat and began to close the door behind him when an officer grabbed the door and prevented him from doing so. When asked if he was the driver or owner of the vehicle, the man later identified as Jahmanie Morton did not respond. However, when the question was posed a second time, Morton reportedly stated that the driver was his “partner” who was inside the bar.
The officer then directed Morton to call his partner so that police could speak with him regarding the vehicle. The officer took the keys from the man and directed him to step out of the vehicle and make the call. The fact sheet notes that when he stepped out of the vehicle, Morton appeared very nervous and began shaking. Morton was advised that since he claimed the vehicle was not his, he was only being detained, not arrested. Nevertheless, he took off running from the officers and they were unsuccessful in their attempts to pursue him on foot.
Police then conducted a registration check of the vehicle and located the owner who indicated that he had loaned his vehicle to his cousin’s son. The gun recovered from the vehicle was identified as a 9MM M-11 Cobray loaded with one chambered live round and another 10 live rounds in the magazine. According to the fact sheet, the officers also recovered a measuring scale and two mason jars containing a green leafy substance which later tested positive as marijuana. These were found in a backpack on the floorboard of the vehicle’s front passenger side.
Police located Jahmanie Morton at his residence later that morning and he was arrested and charged with carrying of firearms openly or concealed, possession of an unauthorized firearm in a vehicle, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, and contempt of court. He was remanded to the Golden Grove Adult Correctional Facility after failing to post bail of $50,000
The probable cause fact sheet notes that at the time of his arrest, Morton was on release on another criminal matter and a condition of his release is that he remain on 24-hour house arrest without an electronic monitor.
At Morton’s advisement hearing on Monday, Judge Ernest Morris Jr. stated, “I hope that party that he went to was a very good one cause it’s gonna be the last one he goes to for a very long time.”
While Morton’s attorney requested that the matter be postponed to allow contact with a proposed third-party custodian, the judge had set release conditions in the meantime. Morris Jr. ruled that Morton will only be released on the posting of a fully secured cash bond in the amount of $50,000. Upon the posting of the bail, the defendant will have to provide a third-party custodian who must be vetted and approved. He is prohibited from leaving the territory without written permission from the court and has been placed on 24-hour house arrest once more, this time with the use of an electronic monitor — if he is able to post the fully secured cash $50,000 bond.
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