A priest and two police officers have been called to repudiate the evidence of a former murder accused who admitted to framing 10 men for the murder of the brother of drug kingpin Dole Chadee, almost a decade after they were convicted.
Appellate Judges Alice Yorke-Soo Hon, Rajendra Narine and Prakash Moosai gave State prosecutors permission to call the witness yesterday at the close of the appeal of the men serving life sentences for murdering Thackoor Boodram in 1997.
Addressing the fact that Junior Grandison failed to attend the appeal to testify over his statutory declaration given in 2011, Travers Sinanan said the State should be granted permission to bring the witnesses to challenge Grandison's claim that he lied during the group's first trial.
The witnesses are — Father Allan Ventour, who spoke with Grandison before he recanted his evidence, retired ACP David Nedd and retired Senior Supt Fitzroy Frederick, who both interacted with Grandison during the police investigation.
The application was opposed by both the appeal panel and the group's attorneys.
"They have done absolutely nothing over the past three years," British Queen's Counsel Edward Fitzgerald said as he questioned why the witnesses were not brought to court when evidence was being heard over the past two weeks.
The appeal panel appeared to agree. Yorke-Soo Hon said: "Why is it at the last minute that you have now come to ask us about rebuttal evidence. We all knew he (Grandison) was not here but we have to work with what we have."
Sinanan said the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had obtained statements from the witnesses between 2013 and last year but had decided not to use them in the appeal in the hope that Grandison would have attended court and be cross-examined.
Sinanan also called upon the court to listen to the witnesses as the only evidence in the case was Grandison's statement and recorded telephone conversations between Grandison and accused man Michael "Rat" Maharaj, which he claimed was hearsay.
In granting Sinanan permission, judges said it was in the interest of justice to get all the assistance they could before making their decision.
The witnesses are expected to testify between November 6 and 9.
About the case
Boodram, a pig farmer, was kidnapped from his home at Spring Village on December 20, 1997.
A ransom was demanded by his abductors, but 10 days later his head was found in a whiskey box at the Caroni Cremation Site.
Michael “Rat” Maharaj, Samuel Maharaj, Damian Ramiah, Bobby Ramiah, Seenath Ramiah, Daniel Gopaul, Richard Huggins, Leslie Huggins, Mark Jaikaran and Junior Phillip were convicted in August 2001.
Their appeals to the Court of Appeal and Privy Council were rejected, but the latter commuted their death sentences to life imprisonment as there had been delays in hearing their cases.