THE tribunal at the Court Martial of Lieutenant Colonel (Lt. Col.) Tony Ross has begun hearing closing addresses, as the proceedings near end.

Yesterday, Defence Counsel Leslie Sobers made his address and State Prosecutor Melissa Yearwood-Stewart will deliver hers tomorrow.

Sobers called for a total acquittal of the accused on the four charges, submitting that they are unfounded and/or defective and/or without proof.

Ross is facing three charges of conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline and one of neglect to the prejudice of good order and military discipline.

Particulars of the offences are that Ross:

* instructed Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2) Gordon to establish an arms store for personnel of the Ordnance Corps, an instruction which he knew or was reasonably expected to know he had no authority to issue;

* gave instructions to have weapons numbers assigned to soldiers of that corps for the purpose of issuing them;

* failed to ensure that the keys to the Keys Cabinet were booked in at Defence Headquarters (DHQ) Operations (OPS) Room, a duty which he knew or was reasonably expected to know and

* at the Ordnance Corps, during the period March 2005 to February 2006, failed to manage an effective Booking In/Out system for the Keys Ledger, a duty known to him or reasonably expected to be known to him.

But Sobers argued that Ross did not order the establishment of an arms store, neither was that his intention but rather to employ additional facilities in the form of more rifle racks within the Ordnance Corps arms store.

The lawyer submitted that the accused never assigned weapon numbers to soldiers of Ordnance Corps and his instruction concerning the preparation of a nominal roll was not intended for that purpose.

Sobers contended it was not the duty of the accused to ensure that, on February 20, 2006, the key to the Keys Cabinet was booked in at Defence Headquarters OPS Room, as that was to be done by the Orderly NCO (non-commissioned officer).

Another submission by Defence Counsel is that Ross did not fail to manage an effective keys ledger. Rather, the ledger was falsified specifically to deceive the accused.

Noting that, in almost every criminal case, the burden of proving the elements of the alleged offence or offences lies on the Prosecution, Sobers said the latter has failed to discharge that burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt.

“Nothing contained in the bulk of evidence before the Court proves that the accused did what he is accused of doing, that he failed to do what he was supposed to do or that, even if he had acted as alleged or failed to act as alleged, that he had done so intentionally or with reckless disregard,” Sobers declared.

The Court is being presided over by Col. Bruce Lovell and includes Judge Advocate Oslen Small, Lt. Cols. B. Bristol, Patrick West and Trevor Blenman and Major Paul Arthur.