Diego man freed of murder, principal witness is dead

When the matter against Kumi Scott was called before Justice Ricky Rahim in the Fifth Criminal Court, State attorneys Brent Winter and Anju Bhola made the request, and concluded by asking that it be discontinued due to the evidence before the court.

Scott, 28 of Bagatelle was accused of killing Glenn Farrell of Cocoyea Village in San Fernando, at Sea Trace in Diego Martin on November 3, 2003.

The defence team led by attorney Ian Brooks, and including Asha Watkins and Celeste St Louis agreed with the State’s position in ensuring that an innocent man not be sent to jail.

Brooks tipped his hat to Winter and the DPP’s office as he agreed that, “The stand taken by the prosecutor is a principled one, and well founded on law.”

He referred to the prosecutor as “fair minded” after Winter expressed concerns “relative to the issue of unfairness being afforded to the accused, and he (Scott) potentially being the subject of a guilty verdict in a matter in which a lot of questions were raised.”

Brooks added that “it was sad” that the decision had to come some six or seven years after, but again, it could not be achieved without the “efficient and dedicated prosecutor.”

He said the matter had caused both sides to review the police and their investigating techniques “and to question if the job done by the police had reached an acceptable standard,” along with the fact that certain bits of disclosure were kept hidden from the defence during the preliminary inquiry “that robbed us of a fair trial and resulted in what has resulted.”

The State was seeking to move forward with the case based on the evidence of the principal witness, Shaiam Noel, who was killed some time later.