A man has been acquitted of murdering a man in 2010, after the State’s main witness admitted that she framed him.
Jaalib Daniel was found not guilty at the end of his judge-alone trial before Justice Hasine Shaikh on Thursday.
Daniel was accused of murdering Torrey Richardson, who was shot several times in Maraval on February 24, 2010.
The State’s case against Daniel was solely based on the testimony of a woman, who claimed that she witnessed the shooting when she was 19 years old.
However, when she entered the witness box during the trial, she sought to recant her previous claims and was deemed a hostile witness.
She claimed that at the time she implicated Daniel, she was a teen mother and had issues with securing housing.
She claimed that she agreed to fabricate the claims against Daniel in exchange for being placed in witness protection.
She claimed that she had a change of heart before being called upon to testify against him in the trial.
In deciding on the verdict for Daniel, Justice Shaikh noted that the issue with the witness meant that the State lacked any positive and reliable identification evidence linking Daniel to the crime.
She also highlighted significant investigative failures by the lead investigator, who neglected to probe the witness’ recanted story over what she claimed actually transpired on the day of Richardson’s murder.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions was represented by Ambay Ramkellawan and Melissa Boodhai. Daniel was represented by Ian Brooks and Kimaada Ottley.
