A death row inmate has lost his novel appeal seeking to overturn his conviction for murdering an elderly couple and seeking $1 billion in compensation for malicious prosecution and false imprisonment.
Delivering judgement in the multi-faceted appeal at the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain, on Tuesday, Appellate Judges Alice Yorke-Soo Hon, Rajendra Narine and Gregory Smith rejected all 12 grounds raised by Mukesh Chandradath.
In his appeal, Chandradath, who represented himself, made a series of seemingly outlandish complaints against the police officers who investigated his case, the prosecutors who appeared in his trials and the judges who presided over them.
Chandradath was able to pursue the appeal with the assistance of the judges and using grounds which were raised in a series of letters which included excerpts from legal texts.
Chandradath was convicted of murdering Selwyn Grant, 65, and his 70-year-old wife Ursula Innis at their home at Allen Drive, Syne Village, Penal in 2011.
The couple’s decomposing and headless bodies were discovered by their grandson on September 16, 1999.
Grant was found under an abandoned tank in the yard and his head was found in a bag secured by wire. Innis’ body was found in a bathtub in the bathroom, while her severed head was found in a bag floating in a water tank.
In his appeal, Chandradath claimed that police tampered with evidence including a post mortem report prepared by then pathologist Dr Ramnath Chandulal. He claimed that without the tampered document, the State would have been unable to prove the cause of death for the victims.
He also alleged that his former defence attorneys and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) colluded together to withhold the evidence of the tampering at his trials.
He also claimed that police fabricated an alleged confession statement, which was used against him when he was convicted during his second trial in 2011.
Chandradath, who needs cataract surgery, also claimed that his former defence attorneys conspired with prison officials to blind him so that he would be unable to present submissions in the appeal.
The State was represented by Travers Sinanan and Angelica Teelucksingh-Ramoutar.