Two soldiers charged with offences including assault of a police officer were yesterday each granted $90,000 bail with a surety. Michael Garcia and Quinn Dick were represented by attorneys Lemuel Murphy and Shane Jurawan when they reappeared before magistrate Melvin Daniel in the Port-of-Spain Fourth Court.
The two first appeared on Thursday before magistrate Gloria Jasmath in the Eleventh Court, were denied bail and remanded in custody until yesterday. Scheduled to reappear in the Fifth Court, Garcia and Dick were forced to wait until their matter was transferred to Daniel's court after a clerk of the peace said she had no authority to grant bail.
Due to an unusually high absence of magistrates yesterday many courts had to be adjourned by court officers. Half an hour after the matter was stood down in the Fifth Court, the soldiers attached to Camp Cumuto, Wallerfield, reappeared before Daniel. Garcia, 30, is charged with malicious damage of one Guess watch valued at $1,800 belonging to PC Anthony Williams on Thursday last and assaulting Williams who was attempting to arrest another person.
Garcia was not called upon to enter a plea as the charges were laid indictably. Dick, 27, was charged with using obscene language and assaulting PC Williams at Broadway on the same day with intent to prevent lawful arrest. Offering no objection to bail yesterday, prosecutor Anderson Gonzales said a tracing indicated neither of the accused had any previous convictions or pending matters.
Daniel later agreed to accept Dick's father as his surety, while Garcia's fiancee was accepted as his. The two will reappear on December 21 in the Fifth Court.