Mark Emmanuel Prince appeared in Superior Court on Friday morning in Kingshill to face an eight-count felony docket that includes attempted murder, first-degree assault, and carrying an unlicensed firearm within 100 feet of a school.
The charges mark a sharp turn for Prince, who two years earlier stood at the center of a landmark constitutional ruling that reshaped how Virgin Islands police can search vehicles. In the 2025 case People v. Jacob A. Turnbull, Thymothy Rodriguez, and Mark Emmanuel Prince, Superior Court Judge Ernest E. Morris Jr. ruled that the odor of cannabis alone cannot justify a warrantless vehicle search, since marijuana possession in small amounts is no longer a criminal offense in the territory.
In that earlier traffic stop, police had pulled over a vehicle operated by Prince with two passengers aboard. Officers used only the scent of cannabis as probable cause to search the car without a warrant, finding firearms and other contraband. Judge Morris suppressed all the evidence, agreeing with defense arguments that the odor no longer indicated criminal activity under modern Virgin Islands law. The ruling delivered a major victory for the defendants and severely limited police search powers at the roadside.
Prince's new charges stem from very different circumstances: active gunfire, direct physical violence, and an overnight police response, according to prosecutors. One count charges him under a statute that applies to convicted felons carrying dangerous weapons. Because his 2025 suppression victory prevented a conviction in the earlier case, prosecutors appear to be relying on older convictions from his record to pursue maximum mandatory sentences.
Prince was scheduled for an Advice of Rights hearing before Judge Yolan C. Brow Ross at the R.H. Amphlett Leader Justice Complex. The case is docketed as SX-2026-CR-00287.
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