A man, who spent almost 15 years on remand before being freed of murder, has called for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and judicial officers to be more circumspect when deciding whether to allow police officers to prosecute citizens for serious crimes.
Linden Roberts made the call after he was acquitted by High Court Judge Gail Gonzales at the end of his judge-alone trial at the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain yesterday.
Speaking with Guardian Media shortly after an emotional reunion with his mother, Roberts questioned why the case against him was allowed to proceed to trial when the only evidence linking him to the crime was the allegations of a witness who could not be found to testify against him.
“It is too easy to be charged with a crime in T&T. All that a person has to do is walk into a station and say he did that. That’s it. Sixteen years later, now I am free,” he said.
Roberts described the police officers, who charged him based on the tenuous evidence, as vindictive and wicked.
Roberts was charged with murdering shopkeeper Lloyd George, 28, of Red Hill, D’Abadie.
George was shot dead as he left his girlfriend’s home at O’Keeffe Street, Tunapuna, around 9.45 pm on March 21, 2009.
Although no one witnessed George’s murder, a neighbour claimed he saw a man fleeing the scene in an awaiting vehicle, which he identified by its license plate.
State prosecutors relied on a statement from the owner of the vehicle, Dirk Benjamin.
Benjamin alleged that he was hired to take Roberts to the location and claimed he heard gunshots before he (Roberts) returned to the car.
Benjamin, who also claimed that Roberts returned to his car with a gun in his hand, left the country shortly after he was released from custody upon giving the statement implicating Roberts.
While Justice Gonzales stated that she did not believe Roberts’ alibi, she noted that she could not be sure beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty of the crime based on Benjamin’s untested allegations in the statement.
“It (the statement) contained inconsistencies that could not be explained by the other evidence in the case,” she said.
Referring to discrepancies with Benjamin’s statement, Justice Gonzales noted that he had a motive to lie about Roberts’ purported involvement.
“Benjamin was accomplice. He had reason to minimise his role and make another person culpable,” she said.
Roberts, a devout Muslim, admitted that the outcome of the case, on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations today, was a welcome gift.
“All praises to Allah,” he said, as he thanked his lawyers Larry Williams and Shaun Morris.