Attorneys for two of the three men convicted for the killing of San Juan businesswoman, Samdaye Rampersad, requested, yesterday, that the court impose 15-year sentences, or less, on their clients, since they did not play major roles in the killing.
The trio: Vivian Clarke, 36, of Production Avenue in Sea Lots, Port-of-Spain; Steve McGillvery, 27, of Pioneer Drive, also in Sea Lots; and Pernell Martin, of Gobison Trace in Tunapuna, who were found guilty of the lesser count of manslaughter, will be sentenced on Friday. Rampersad, 48, was snatched from in front of her Petit Bourg business place on November 25, 2005. Her body was found in a shallow grave in a cashew field in Claxton Bay on January 5, 2006.
Five other men, who were also charged with the murder, are to face a retrial, while another man, Bobbie Sankar, was freed.
Clarke's attorney, Larry Williams, said his client was the "lookout" in the incident and he didn't foresee death would have occurred.
"He thought they were going to kidnap a man, and they ended up kidnapping a woman instead. "He didn't even expect serious bodily harm would have occurred," Williams added. Because of this, he said his client's sentence should fall short of 15 years in prison.
He noted that Clarke was the father of five children and was the breadwinner of his household. He added that his client dropped out of school in Form Five and did not complete CXC.
McGillvery's attorney, Hayden St Clair Douglas, said he had reached a benchmark of 15 years in prison for his client. "You are asked to look at the role McGillvery played. He played no part in the planning process," the attorney said. "He was present in the process in an ancillary car and not in the main car," Douglas added.
He noted that McGillvery was the father of one and had two previous convictions for which he was sentenced. "He did not go past the primary school level and comes from a broken home."
Martin's attorney, Amerelle Francis, informed High Court judge, Justice Rajendra Narine, that she needed more time to make her submissions. The judge said, however, that since he would not be in the High Court next week, he proposed to hear all submissions yesterday, and hand down the sentence on Friday. As a result Francis said she would make her submissions on Thursday and the sentencing would follow on Friday.
