The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is not required to disclose its reasons for allowing a former murder accused, who implicated five others in the kidnapping and murder of a San Juan businesswoman, to plead guilty to the lesser offence of felony murder.
Delivering a preliminary ruling at the start of a virtual hearing of the appeal of the five men, who were convicted of manslaughter based on the evidence of Nigel “Cat” Roderique, Appellate Judges Alice Yorke-Soo Hon, Mark Mohammed and Prakash Moosai ruled that they were not entitled to the disclosure as there was no legal requirement to do so.
Moosai, who delivered the decision, also rejected calls for disclosure of the instructions DPP Roger Gaspard, SC, allegedly gave to prosecutors before they made submissions on the appropriate sentence for Roderique.
Moosai noted that Roderique’s subsequent role as State witness against the group in a separate case was not a factor considered by the judge, who sentenced him.
In the appeal, Phillip “The Boss” Boodram, Roger Mootoo, Ricky Singh, Kervin Williams and Aaron “Arc Eye” Grappie are claiming that the judge, who presided over their trial, made errors in advising the jury on how to consider the credibility of Roderique’s claims that they kidnapped and murdered Samdaye Rampersad.
Presenting submissions on behalf of the DPP’s office yesterday, attorneys Travers Sinanan and Tricia Hudlin-Cooper admitted that the judge did not fully explain Roderique’s propensity to fabricate evidence based on prejudicial statements made against the group in relation to his murder case.
However, they claimed that they were not treated unfairly as the judge gave lengthy advice on considering Roderique’s credibility.
“The other directions on fabrication and alibi would have been sufficient to guide the jury,” they said.
They also noted that Rodrique was cross-examined extensively over his statements by the group’s competent legal team.
Sinanan also rejected claims that Boodram was prejudiced based on newspaper reports on another crime that were published during their trial as he pointed out that he (Boodram) was never identified.
Rampersad was kidnapped by masked men while standing in front of her home in Petit Bourg, San Juan on November 25, 2005. Her body was found 41 days later in a shallow grave in a cashew field in Carolina Village, Claxton Bay.
Her brother, Mervyn, was contacted several times after his sister’s kidnapping by a man who demanded a $2 million ransom for her safe release, although at that time she was already dead.
One of the State’s witnesses, forensic pathologist Hughvon des Vignes, testified that an autopsy of Rampersad’s body showed she died of asphyxia and suffocation consistent with being buried alive.
In his testimony, Rodrique claimed he was present at a meeting at which the kidnapping was planned, and at Rampersad’s eventual death. He also alleged that Rampersad was kidnapped as he and the men wrongly believed that she was the mother of a man who had owed them money for drugs.
Nine men were initially charged for Rampersad’s murder, with three-Vivian Clarke, Steven McGillvery and Pernell Martin - being convicted on manslaughter and sentenced to 30 years in prison in their first trial in 2009.
Another accused, Bobby Sankar, was acquitted during that trial.
Last month, the Privy Council upheld McGillvery’s appeal, which was also based on Roderique’s evidence, but affirmed Clarke and Martin’s convictions.
The five remaining accused were put on trial again in 2012 but it ended in a hung jury.
They were eventually convicted during a second retrial which began in 2016 and lasted over a year.
The men were each sentenced to 28 years in prison.
The men are being represented by Edward Fitzgerald, QC, Paul Taylor, QC, Rajiv Persad, John Heath, Kelston Pope and Gabriel Hernandez.
The men’s attorneys are expected to respond to the State’s submissions when the case resumes next Tuesday.
