Brothers freed of murder

Sean and Rommel Sandy, of Sandy Trace, Laventille were charged with the murder of Roger Haynes and were being tried before Justice Devan Rampersad at the Port-of-Spain Fourth Criminal Court. Haynes was gunned down as he sat in his car at Sandy Trace, Laventille on July 29, 2004.

When the matter was called yesterday, Director of Public Prosecution Geoffrey Henderson, instructed by State attorney Cheron Raphael, indicated that based on new information he had received the State had no alternative but to stop the case.

Defence attorneys Ian Brooks and Leon Gokool had, at the start of the trial, requested disclosure of an arrest warrant issued for the State’s main witness Kenroy Brunoe. The State had claimed that the warrant was missing.

Henderson yesterday told the court that after further “investigations” he found out that the warrant had been executed and recalled.

However, Brunoe, who had given evidence on Monday, said he knew a warrant had been issued for his arrest but it was never executed on him.

Brunoe, who said he had witnessed the fatal shooting of Haynes, had given four statements to the police using two different names — Kenroy Brunoe and Dwayne Taylor.

According to Brunoe, he was sitting in the vehicle next to Haynes when he heard three loud explosions. He said when he turned in Haynes’ direction, he saw the deceased slumped in the driver’s seat with blood gushing from his head.