After spending over seven years in prison awaiting trial, a 33-year-old man from Maracas/St Joseph was yesterday freed of murdering his neighbour.It took a 12-member jury in the Port-of-Spain High Court half an hour to return with the not-guilty verdict for father of two Ricardo Ramsaroop, who was accused of murdering Nicholas Ribeiro during an argument in 2007.
In an interview outside the Hall of Justice, Port-of-Spain, moments before he greeted two of his relatives, who attended most of the hearings in his six-month trial, a teary-eyed Ramsaroop said he was very happy as he had always maintained his innocence.Ramsaroop said he was confident of the favourable verdict because of his strong religious beliefs, which he developed while in prison.
"I pray real hard for the judge, jury and prosecutors. God is the greatest. Justice was done today," Ramsaroop said.He said his first activity as a free man would be to visit Mt St Benedict with his two children including his eight-year-old daughter, who was a baby when he was arrested."I going and get myself in order, this is a whole new life I have to live," Ramsaroop said.
According to the evidence in the trial before Justice Hayden St Clair-Douglas, on April 11, 2007, Rebeiro was liming near his home at Sunbadora Hill, Acono Road, Maracas/St Joseph, when he got into an argument with a man who shot him in the stomach with a shotgun.Hours later, Ramsaroop was arrested in a shop in the area. Police said he gave a confession, but his lawyers said he was coerced into signing the document.
Ramsaroop was represented by Orrin Kerr and Ravi Rajah and Shabana Shah prosecuted.