Former attorney general Anand Ramlogan, SC, will have to wait until next year to begin his defence against criminal charges for misbehaviour in public office and obstructing justice. His case was adjourned to January 11 when he appeared before Senior Magistrate Nanette Forde-John in the Port-of-Spain Magistrate's Court on the charges which were laid on Wednesday evening.
Flanked by a small group of friends, relatives and his legal team, Ramlogan and his wife arrived at the St Vincent Street courthouse almost 20 minutes before he was due to appear before Forde-John. No stranger to the surroundings, he was seen smiling and speaking with lawyers and members of the public in the corridors of the court building.
When his case was eventually called, Ramlogan, his entourage and members of the media entered and almost completely filled the public gallery of the courtroom.
Dressed in a grey and blue checkered suit, the former AG was directed into the prisoner enclosure and stood silently before Forde-John as he waited for her to read the two charges. However, as she was about to do so, Forde-John paused and had a brief conversation with Ramlogan's attorney Pamela Elder, SC, which was almost inaudible from the public gallery. She then stood the matter down for a short period.
The T&T Guardian understands that Forde-John's query was over an administrative error on the $750,000 bail bond granted by Justice of the Peace Anthony Soulette who reportedly had forgotten to sign the document. When the matter was recalled almost 20 minutes later, the issue appeared to have been rectified as Forde-John immediately proceeded to read the charges to Ramlogan.
He is accused of obstructing justice by using threats and bribery in October 2014 to persuade Police Complaints Authority (PCA) director David West to not give evidence in a defamation case against then Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley. Ramlogan is also accused of misbehaving in public office by improperly endeavouring for West not to testify on Rowley's behalf.
The lawsuit against Rowley centred around statements he made against Ramlogan about his handling of extradition proceedings against businessmen Ishwar Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson and the controversial Section 34 issue.
Ramlogan was not called upon to plead to the charges which were laid indictably.
After the charges were read, Elder asked police prosecutor Insp Winston Dillon if he was ready to disclose the evidence against her client, including the warrant used by police to search his house on Tuesday morning. Dillon said disclosure of evidence will occur within a month. He also said the case will be prosecuted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Forde-John said she would only dealt with Ramlogan's first court appearance and the case will be transferred to acting Chief Magistrate Maria Busby-Earle-Caddle who is assigned all capital offences and high profile cases.
The charges arose out of an investigation initiated by acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams after West gave a statement implicating Ramlogan in January 2015.
Ramlogan was arrested on Tuesday when a large group of police officers raided his home in south Trinidad. He was interrogated by the police for close to 12 hours and detained overnight before he was eventually charged the following day.
Even with charges pending, Ramlogan can continue to practice. The disciplinary committee of the Law Association will take action against him in the event that he is eventually convicted.
Ramlogan was also represented yesterday by Alvin Pariagsingh.