NASSAU- A man caught on camera vandalising a statue of Christopher Columbus while trespassing on Government House grounds has pleaded not guilty after psychiatrists found he was of sound mind.
Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt did not allow Shervandaze Smith, 37, to plead to the charges at his initial court appearance last month, despite his insistence that, “There is nothing wrong with me.”
She remanded him to prison for a psychiatrists to determine if he was fit to plead.
In a viral video of the October 9 incident, Smith uses a sledgehammer to knock off the right leg and hand of the monument.
When officers arrived, he lay prostrate with his hands behind his back. According to Smith, he’d worked as personal butler at an all-inclusive resort. He also said he moved out of his mother’s house because she was telling people he was crazy.
Smith’s next court appearance is November 29 for a bail hearing.
