Man freed of arms charge

A JURY took just 20 minutes of deliberation to free a Longdenville straightner/ painter of charges of possession of arms, ammunition and cocaine trafficking.

Leonard Samuel, 39, was on trial before Justice Paula Mae Weeks and a nine-member jury in the San Fernando Second Criminal Assizes.
He was represented by attorney Prakash Ramadhar instructed by Brian Dabideen.

The State’s case was presented by prosecutors Jerron Joseph and Chris Seelochan.

The charge against Samuel was that on February 4, 2000, PCs Michael Morris and Kevin Neptune caught him in possession of a white plastic bag containing a Smith and Wesson .38 revolver, 36 rounds of ammunition consisting of eleven .38 shells and 25 nine millimetre cartridges, and several cocaine rocks weighing 22.9 grammes.
PCs Michael Morris and Kevin Neptune testified they were on police exercise at Church Street, Duncan Village, when they saw Samuel walking towards them holding the bag in his hand, but when Samuel saw them he turned and tried to conceal the bag under his jersey.
The police testified they followed Samuel and upon searching him discovered the bag with the illegal items on hi0s person.

However, under cross examination by Ramadhar, it was put to the policemen that another policeman on the exercise, Constable Sambury, had that day asked the accused to use his car to go into Church Street, but he refused. Samuel testified he went to his mother’s house on Church Street and while in his uncle’s yard a few houses away one of the policemen ordered his arrest.

Samuel maintained his innocence of the crime throughout the trial.