Assault cases against PSA official to go on

The charges brought against Public Service Association’s (PSA) general secretary Nixon Callender in the assault matter involving PSA member Ricky Cedeno will continue. This is after Magistrate Cheron Raphael ruled that the complaint had been filed in time. Presiding in the Port-of-Spain Third Court on Thursday, Raphael ruled on an earlier application by Callendar’s attorney John Heath, who lobbied for the complaint to be discontinued, as it had not been filed within the stipulated time.

Appearing on October 10, Heath argued that Cedeno’s complaint had been filed on February 28. At the time, Heath quoted Section 33 of the Summary Courts Act, which said proceedings should be instituted within six months of the complaint. Callender is charged with assaulting PSA members Joanne Semper-Caprietta, Alana Blackman-Maloney and Cedeno in May and August, 2011 .

Those three matters are before Raphael, while Callender has a separate case before Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar, in which he is also charged with assaulting PSA’s first vice-president Rosanna Robinson in August 2011. State counsel George Busby explained that from the date of the alleged offence on August 26, the police had up to February 27, 2012, to file the complaint, which they had done.

Quoting from the Summary Courts Act and the Interpretation Act yesterday, Raphael said the charges had been laid within the stipulated time. She went on to explain that although the stipulated period within which to file the complaint would have expired on February 26, this  was a Sunday and the court would have been closed, hence the reason why the complaint was filed on the next available date.

After her ruling, Raphael adjourned the matter to April 25.