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Jury to decide fate of Furbert

she knew nothing about 100 grams of cannabis stashed in a rucksack she carried into Bermuda.In the second day of her trial yesterday, Kenita Furbert, 24, of Camp Hill Road,

she knew nothing about 100 grams of cannabis stashed in a rucksack she carried into Bermuda.

In the second day of her trial yesterday, Kenita Furbert, 24, of Camp Hill Road, took the witness stand to try and convince the jury that the drugs had been planted in three jars of body wash and hand lotion without her knowledge.

She is charged with importing and possession of drugs with intent to supply.

Furbert managed to remain calm throughout most of her testimony, although occasionally her voice quivered with emotion as she explained how she had been set up.

She told the court how she had travelled to Orlando via Atlanta last January 26 to spend a week with her ex-boyfriend and several friends.

On the morning of her return, February 3, she went out to a restaurant for breakfast, although her boyfriend stayed at home.

Furbert was later stopped by Customs officers on her arrival at Bermuda Airport. A routine search revealed cannabis with a street value of more than $3,000 hidden in capsules buried inside three bottles of lotion.

"I felt embarrassed, humiliated and used,'' Furbert told the court.

She also explained that she had made several attempts to contact her boyfriend since her arrest, but had not been able to speak with him. He had planned to visit the Island shortly after her return.

Summing up, Crown counsel Charlene Scott told the jury of eleven women and one man that the prosecution had done everything to prove that Furbert had brought the drugs into the country.

And she added that, in drugs trials, it is always presumed that the defendant had knowledge of the possession unless he or she can prove otherwise.

Defence lawyer Archie Warner described that law as "draconian'' but insisted that the prosecution had failed to come up with any evidence that Furbert had planted the drugs.

He dismissed Crown claims that Furbert had refused to answer Police questions, claiming she fully cooperated at the airport and only decided not to answer questions when advised to do so by a lawyer. And he also pointed to her clean record and good character.

"Miss Furbert is a credible and believable witness and she did what she had to do with the limited tools,'' Mr. Warner said.

"There was no other evidence that she could give because she didn't know how the contraband got there.

"She is saying to you "I am between a rock and a hard place -- I can't say how the drugs got there but this is the background and this is the scenario and maybe it could have happened this way''.

"If it's more likely that she did not know or suspect or did not have reason to suspect that the drugs were packed in those three containers then she is entitled to be acquitted.'' The jury will be sequestered following a directions by Puisne Judge Norma Wade Miller.