Judge throws out ‘bandit killing’ case

Acting Insp Hubert Sharpe and Supt Errol Dillon walked out of the Port-of-Spain Second Civil Court "vindicated" after Justice Gregory Smith ruled that the circumstances under which the woman’s son had been fatally shot had been justified.

Sharpe, Dillon and the AG were slapped with a lawsuit by Cynthia John for the unlawful killing of her son Franklyn "Weasel" John. The 22-year-old man, who was wanted for murder and several other offences, was gunned down in Laventille on January 21, 1990.

In dismissing the plaintiff’s case, Smith admitted that the case presented "curious and troubling issues," since there were two conflicting reports of how the incident occurred.

He said although the manner in which all the witnesses gave evidence was forceful and forthright, the only reliable bit of evidence came from Dillon.

According to Dillon and Sharpe’s evidence, heard by the court on Wednesday, they went to Erica Street in Laventille in search of John on the day in question, and saw him standing with a woman on the road. John, who was armed, ran when he saw Dillon approaching.

He was subsequently gunned down by Sharpe, who said he only returned fire after John had shot at him.

Both officers denied claims by attorney for the John family, Rhonda-Ann Parris de Freitas, that the deceased had been shot while running away from the police.

In addressing the judge yesterday, Parris de Freitas argued that evidence by the only eye-witness Glen Miller that John was shot from the side as he was jumping over a fence, was consistent with the post-mortem report.

However, State attorneys Glennis Potts and Grace Jankey argued that since Miller never gave evidence before yesterday’s trial, it was unlikely that his evidence was true. Sharpe, the attorneys said, used reasonable force in shooting the deceased, who had resisted with deadly force. Speaking with the media after yesterday’s judgment, Sharpe said although the issue had been hanging over his head for about 15 years, it did not affect him because he viewed it as part of his job. Both officers agreed that justice had been served in a fair manner.

A number of years after John’s death, there was an inquest into the circumstances surrounding the shooting which led to Sharpe being charged with murder in 1999. He was subsequently freed of that charge in 2000. Since John’s mother was a legal aid client, the State agreed that it would not ask for costs.