State to pay for jailing woman

She was represented by attorneys Martin George and Margaret Sookraj-Goswami, while attorneys Rehanna Hosein and Delisa Noel appeared for the State.

The matter will come up for hearing again on January 13, 2006, when the judge will decide on the quantum of damages which the State will have to pay to John. According to the evidence, John, of Santa Cruz, had gone to Mayaro to drop her 62-year-old friend to visit a sick sister-in-law. While the three women were talking in the yard, the police raided an apartment in the building and arrested a man. When the police came downstairs with the man and a bag allegedly containing cocaine, they began to ask the woman about the substance they found upstairs.

John testified that she spoke up and said they had just come there to visit a sick woman, but also complained about the manner in which the police were speaking to them. She claimed to know her constitutional rights, and a policeman responded that since she knew her rights she "going down too."

She remained at the Mayaro Police Station for 11 hours before being charged and receiving bail.

The charge was eventually dismissed against her in 1996 by Magistrate Langley Baiju in the Mayaro Magistrates’ Court after it had been called 53 times.

It also came out in evidence that during the course of the hearings, the matter was first before Magistrate Indra Ramoo-Haynes, who had issued a warrant for John’s arrest when she arrived late for court on one occasion, despite John’s explanation about transportation difficulties that morning. As a result of the warrant, John spent more than three weeks in jail awaiting bail.