A witness in a murder trial who identified the defendant after reviewing video footage lied to police, an attorney said yesterday.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, earlier told a Supreme Court Jury that he spoke to Davin Dill, 24, who believed the victim, Joshua Rowse, to be responsible for his friend getting robbed.

But Charles Richardson, for the defence, pointed out that he did not share this with police until years after the 2020 stabbing had taken place, despite having been interviewed previously.

He added that he did not go to police with this claim until the only other person who could verify this conversation – the friend who had been robbed – had died.

Mr Richardson suggested that the witness “concocted” this conversation, but forgot that he told police he had not spoken to his client and had to come up with a reason for the change in his story.

But the witness insisted that he was not lying and instead struggled to remember at the time.

He said: “I had a lot on my mind at the time – I was grieving, I was in witness protection. I had a lot going on.”

He added: “How was I supposed to know when he would die?”

Mr Dill has denied charges that he murdered Mr Rowse, 22, and that he was in possession of a knife in a public place during an incident outside the Rubis South Shore gas station on June 14, 2020.

The court heard earlier that the witness identified Mr Dill during a police interview after reviewing several CCTV video recordings, including one taken moments before the stabbing and footage of a confrontation outside Mr Rowse’s home weeks before his death.

He said earlier in the trial that he had known Mr Dill since he was a child and recognised him both by his build and the way the man in the video moved.

But Mr Richardson suggested this was a misidentification, adding: “He’s not the only tall and lanky person you know, is he?”

The witness reasoned that, while he was not, he recognised the car seen in the video taken before the stabbing as being Mr Dill’s.

He said: “He’s the only person I know who’s tall and lanky and who drives that car.”

Mr Richardson instead pointed him towards previous footage of Mr Dill and suggested that he looked much slimmer than the man in the stabbing footage.

But the witness suggested that, between the motion of the assailant’s arm and the adrenalin in his system, his arm would have appeared much larger than it normally would in a resting state.

The trial continues.

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