his life.

"I heard the Police were out to shoot me,'' Rupert Elroy Archibald told the three-man, nine-woman Supreme Court jury.

"If they are in the trees and something just moves, it's no telling what those guys are going to do,'' he continued. "Them guys had guns, so I got low.'' Archibald was testifying in the second week of the trial against himself and co-accused Michael Eugene Dillas.

They are represented by Archibald Warner and Victoria Pearman, respectively.

Both men are charged with two counts of armed robbery, and carrying and using firearms in connection with the hold-up and theft of some $37,500 from the Bank of Bermuda in Somerset last year.

Yusef Ameerbakka DeSilva -- also charged in connection with the incident -- pleaded guilty earlier this year and has since identified the defendants as his accomplices.

Yesterday, Archibald claimed he was wary of Police because he has been arrested numerous times without cause since his release from prison in July, 1996.

As recently as a week before the bank robbery, armed Police officers "jumped'' him on Court Street and stood on his head and hands, Archibald said. After his arrest, he was held in custody for three days, but was never told why he had been apprehended, he said.

Archibald also denied any involvement in the armed robbery and told the court he spent the night before the incident at his girlfriend's house in Southampton.

After waking around 7 a.m. on the day of the robbery, he left her residence some time before 11 a.m. and went for a walk along the Railway Trail.

The 37-year-old talked briefly with "a dreadlocks we call Justice'' near the entrance of the Southampton Princess Hotel, but did not see anyone else during his walk.

Archibald said he met Dillas by chance while walking along Middle Road toward PHC.

The two men made their way to Riddell's Bay Golf Course to relax and smoke marijuana, he continued.

Later that morning, Archibald said he and Dillas heard sirens as they were leaving the golf course.

"It's not an area where you would find guys like us,'' he told his lawyer Archibald Warner. "It's a white person's area. I think somebody probably called the man on us.'' And he admitted hiding in bushes and "hitting the deck'' to avoid detection.

"Because what if they saw a sudden movement in the bushes and started shooting?'' he asked.

Archibald denies robbing bank Police eventually discovered Dillas and Archibald lying on their backs in the trees.

Archibald went on to say that after his arrest, he and DeSilva -- with whom he had once worked on a construction site -- spent a great deal of time reviewing the case against them while on remand.

"Me and Yusef used to sit down for hours every day and go through every bit of evidence,'' he said.

But Archibald said DeSilva eventually realised he had condemned himself by making a confession to Police.

"There was no way that he could get away from that,'' said Archibald. "He said the Police were using him to drag us down, to drag us along.

"He said he was going to plead guilty and asked me what I thought. I told him that was a decision he had to make for himself.'' Archibald went on to say DeSilva promised to tell the court that neither Dillas nor Archibald were involved in the crime.

However, Archibald said he only learned differently on the night before the trial began.

"I heard his (DeSilva's) testimony. I can't say anything. It wasn't me. I didn't participate in any of that,'' he said.

And Archibald angrily claimed the Police had been unable -- despite numerous scientific tests -- to prove he was connected to the evidence.

However, Crown counsel Brian Calhoun suggested Archibald's repeated denials of evidence could only be explained by "remarkable coincidence''.

These coincidences included being found a near a pair of handguns on the robbers' escape route, being next to clothing allegedly worn by the men, having gunshot residue on his clothes, and being an acquaintance of confessed robber DeSilva, the Crown counsel explained.

But yesterday Archibald lost his temper under Mr. Calhoun's cross-examination.

"You haven't been through the hell I've been through with those guys (the Police),'' he shouted. "You don't know the hell I've been through.'' However, Mr. Calhoun maintained the evidence against the two defendants was overwhelming.

"The greatest amount of it has nothing to do with Mr. DeSilva. You put yourself there. Dillas put himself there,'' he said. "All that is independent of what Mr. DeSilva had to say.'' But Archibald again angrily refuted the evidence.

"What does that prove?'' he asked.

"It proves that you are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,'' answered Mr.

Calhoun, sitting down.

"I'm sure you don't believe that,'' Archibald shot back as he left the witness stand. "You're not as stupid as you appear to be right now.'' Also testifying yesterday were two inmates of the Westgate Correctional Facility.

Anthony Swan -- described by Mr. Calhoun as a "jailhouse lawyer'' -- told the court he helped DeSilva research his case.

According to Swan, DeSilva admitted Archibald and Dillas did not commit the robbery.

And fellow inmate David Dill also said DeSilva had confided that the men were innocent.

The trial continues today before Chief Justice Austin Ward. Patrick Doherty is also representing the Crown.

Rupert Elroy Archibald Gaphic file name: ROBBERS