The foreman of the jury hearing the murder trial of 11 men accused of murdering businesswoman Vindra Naipaul-Coolman has been sacked.
The juror, who has led the 12 member-jury since the trial began in March, last year, was discharged during a hearing of the case in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday. In doing so, presiding Judge Malcolm Holdip explained to the juror’s former colleagues that foreman requested to be removed from the jury after he lost his job in August. Holdip was careful to note that the juror’s employment problem was caused by an external issue and not because of the lengthy trial.
Holdip then replaced the juror with one of the three alternates and then allowed the jury to select a new foreman. Since the trial began, four jurors have been removed for various reasons including two who frequently missed hearings without providing a valid reasons.
During yesterday’s hearing defence attorneys completed their cross-examination of the State’s latest witness—firearm and ballistic expert Derrick Sankar. Sankar was one of two employees of the Forensic Science Centre in St James who inspected and tested a firearm which was allegedly recovered at the home of one of the accused men, weeks after Naipaul-Coolman was abducted from her Chaguanas home on December 19, 2006.
Sankar’s testimony centred around tests he and his colleague performed which the State is relying upon to prove that the illegal weapon matched spent shells recovered on the scene of the kidnapping.
Throughout his cross-examination Sankar was repeatedly quizzed on the reliability of his findings as defence attorneys challenged the ability of local forensic experts to conduct tests at international standards.
Sankar is among a handful of State witnesses who are left to testify before the State closes its case against the accused men.
In addition to the firearm, prosecutors are relying on the evidence of their main witness Keon Gloster who claimed he was present when the former Xtra Foods chief executive was being held captive at a house in Upper La Puerta, Diego Martin and when she was eventually killed and her body disposed of.
However, during his testimony earlier in the trial, Gloster repeatedly claimed that he was coerced by police into signing the series of statements, which implicated the accused men, most of whom are his relatives.
The trial will resume tomorrow morning when prosecutors will bring their next witness.
Who’s in court
The dozen men before the jury and Justice Malcolm Holdip are: twin brothers Shervon and Devon Peters, siblings Keida and Jamille Garcia and their older brother Anthony Dwayne Gloster, brothers Marlon and Earl Trimmingham, Ronald Armstrong, Antonio Charles, Joel Fraser and Lyndon James. A 13th man, Raphael Williams, was charged with the crime but died in prison in 2011 of complications from sickle-cell anaemia. Another accused, Allan “Scanny” Martin, was shot dead by police after a daring prison break from the Port-of-Spain State Prison, in July.
Legal team
Their legal team includes Ulric Skerritt, Joseph Pantor, Selwyn Mohammed, Lennox Sankersingh, Ian Brooks, Wayne Sturge, Mario Merritt, Richard Valere, Colin Selvon, Vince Charles, Christian Chandler, Delicia Helwig and Alexia Romero. The prosecution team includes Senior Counsel Israel Khan and Gilbert Peterson, who are being assisted by senior state prosecutors Joy Balkaran and Kelly Thompson.