Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard has defended his office’s prosecution in the Vindra Naipaul-Coolman murder trial.
Speaking yesterday with reporters outside the Hall of Justice, Port-of-Spain, two days after eight of the accused men were acquitted of the crime and two others were ordered to be retried, Gaspard dismissed criticism over the strength of the State’s case against the men.
“Well in the first place, a no case submission would have been made in respect of this matter, not so. And a judge would have found that the case was fit and proper to be heard by the jury, not so. Well, if it passed the judge at the no case submission stage what does that tell you, not that there is sufficient prima facie evidence to go before the jury, not so?” Gaspard asked.
Asked if there could be any possible ramifications on future cases coming out of this one, Gaspard said, “We tend to learn from every case we do.” He made the comments after attending a habeas corpus hearing which was brought by two of the seven accused men who were returned to prison after being freed on Tuesday due to an administrative error.
During the hearing, Gaspard admitted that the two men — Anthony Dwayne Gloster and Jamille Garcia — were not initially freed as their criminal records incorrectly showed that they were still before a preliminary inquiry for Naipaul-Coolman’s murder.
Gloster and Garcia were arrested and charged with the crime two years after the other accused men and their (Gloster and Garcia) inquiry was set aside so they could go on trial at the same time with their co-accused. However, the inquiry was not discontinued as promised and it remained on their records.
This latest verdict, which has come on the heels of a judge throwing out the gang-related charges against the accused in the Dana Seetahal, SC, murder case last week, has brought into focus a level of concern about the manner in which the police investigate matters.
Meanwhile, five hours after High Court Judge Peter Rajkumar ruled in their favour and ordered their immediate release, Gloster and Garcia walked out of the Port-of-Spain State Prison at Frederick Street, Port-of-Spain, yesterday evening.
In a brief interview after walking out the prison where they had been incarcerated for almost a decade, Garcia said he was happy that the error was rectified but was still disappointed for his two co-accused Earl Trimmingham and Lyndon Charles, who were ordered to be retried.
“I feeling it for my friends who are innocent and have to remain inside there for however long,” Garcia said.