Key witness denies ‘horn’ claims

DEFENCE attorneys in the Clint Huggins murder trial sought yesterday to describe key State witness Swarsatee Maharaj as a promiscuous woman who was “horning” her common-law husband Leslie Huggins with his cousin Arnold Huggins. Maharaj emphatically denied this suggestion  on several occasions. She also denied being a “party girl”.

Arnold’s attorney, Ian Stuart Brook, suggested that Maharaj wanted Arnold and had spent a lot of money on him. Brook claimed Maharaj even gave Arnold $25,000 to buy a van, paid for Arnold’s child birthday party and provided him with spending money. “Anything he wanted you provided. You even paid him to stay with you ... but you had been rebuffed by him. He took all your money and when you wanted him back, he said no.”  Brook claimed the relationship went sour because Maharaj allegedly tore up a photograph of Arnold’s one-year-old son, Ryan, whose birthday party she had sponsored. Brook further claimed that when Arnold came into the room and saw the pieces of the torn photograph he threw a cup of warm or hot tea on Maharaj. However, Brook did not offer or solicit a reason for Maharaj’s alleged action. 

Arnold, Leslie and Junior Phillip are before Justice Alice York Soo-Hon in the Port-of Spain Third Criminal Court charged with the murder of Clint Huggins on February 20, 1996. Clint was the main witness against Dole Chadee and his gang for murder. Leslie is being defended by Keith Scotland and Dawn Mohan and Phillip by Osbourne Charles SC instructed by Christilyn Moore. Prosecutors are Wayne Rajbansie and Natasha George. Maharaj said she never had an intimate relationship with Arnold or ever referred to him as her common-law husband. But it came out in evidence that Maharaj had taken out a restraining order against Arnold and on that document she had described him as her common-law husband. She was not asked why the order was taken out, but she claimed it was the  easiest way to get the order.

The court also heard that Maharaj lived with Leslie for about six months and sometime after the killing of Clint, she found out Leslie was “horning” her and she moved out and went to live at Arnold’s mother, Merle, at Matura. Maharaj said she spent about a week there then moved in with her friend Shalisa at Mulchan Street, Sangre Grande. Under cross-examination by Scotland, Maharaj admitted that on January 1, 1997, she got engaged to Phillip, the man whom she claimed had contributed to  Clint’s murder by beating him  on the head with a piece of wood.

Earlier in cross-examination by Brook, Maharaj denied that she “cut a deal with anyone” or that immunity from all criminal offences committed by her was “dangled” before her in exchange for her testimony against the three accused. She admitted she had a case pending for stealing a pig. She also admitted that on an occasion when Arnold was driving her car and crashed,  she lied to the police by claiming she was the driver. She said she lied because Arnold did not have his driving permit with him. She also admitted she has a son who lives with his father Dennis Sookraj. She refuted the suggestion that the child does not live with her because she was a “party girl”. She said at the time she thought the child would get better care at the home of his father.