Defence lawyer Ainsley Lucky pleaded yesterday with acting Deputy Chief Magistrate Rajendra Rambachan to dismiss arson charges against three men accused of setting fire to the Gasparillo Secondary School 11 years ago. They were students of the school when they were charged. They defendants, Marlon Brandon, Owen Baptiste and Darryl Lawrence, all 27 years old, reappeared before Rambachan in the San Fernando court. They are accused of setting fire to the school on June 25, 2001. The incident is alleged to have occurred when they were 16 years old and had just completed their CXC examinations.
They were charged by Cpl Hugh Elbourne, who was not present in court yesterday. Lucky argued the matter had been called several times and there were no prosecution witnesses, including Elbourne. Lucky urged Rambachan to dismiss the case on grounds that the prosecution was not ready to start it after 11 years. He said the lone witness present in court in the case and had no substantial evidence. But court prosecutor, Ramdath Phillip, requested that he be given an adjournment to have all parties for the state ready. He said Elbourne was on vacation and out of the country while Fire Safety Officer Humphrey, who conducted investigations into the fire, retired.
Phillip said one of the witnesses was on extended sick leave and two others were served with summonses on March 19 but failed to appear at yesterday's hearing. Rambachan said he agreed with Lucky but preferred to dismiss the matter by having it dealt with according to proper procedure. He said he was willing to give the prosecution a few weeks before dismissing it. He said if he had dismissed the matter there was the possibility of the Director of Public Prosecution relaying the charges. "I prefer to have the matter discharged on my terms. I think if I do it properly then it is gone," Rambachan said. The accused were remanded on their $15,000 bail to reappear in court on September 10.