A 22-minute video recording of murder accused Rajaee Ali being interviewed by police was admitted into evidence as the preliminary enquiry into the killing of former special State prosecutor Dana Seetahal continued yesterday.
The video was tendered into evidence through police officer, Sgt Joseph Sutherland of the Criminal Gang and Intelligence Unit, along with two statements relating to Ali’s interrogation.
Ali and ten other men were charged on July 27 last year with the murder of Seetahal. Seetahal was shot dead on May 4, 2014 while driving along Hamilton Holder Street, Woodbrook.
Sutherland spent the bulk of two hours standing giving evidence in a humid courtroom. The air conditioning was not working and the sound of heavy rainfall outside and a hovering national security helicopter echoed inside the courtroom.
Presiding magistrate Indrani Cedeno offered the witness a bottled water as his voice cracked.
Sutherland will have to resume testimony on September 1 after Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, George Busby, sought an adjournment.
He said he had to catch a flight to Tobago for another court matter this morning. During his testimony the lights in the courtroom flickered at least four times but it was not enough to stop yesterday’s proceedings.
Ali, his brothers—Ishmael and Hamid Ali—Devaughn Cummings, Ricardo Stewart, Earl Richards, Stephan Cummings, Kevin Parkinson, Leston Gonzales, Roget Boucher and Gareth Wiseman remain on trial for Seetahal’s murder.
Stacy Griffith, who is not charged with murder, is charged with benefiting from a gang.