Lawyers: Free the acquitted 7

Shervon ‘Buffy’ Peters; Keida Garcia, Marlon ‘Mad Man Marlon’ Trimmingham; Ronald ‘22’ Armstrong; Antonio ‘Hedges’ Charles; Anthony Dwayne Gloster, also called Anthony Peters and Jamile ‘WASA’ Garcia — were among the ten on trial for the businesswoman’s murder.

She was kidnapped on December 19, 2006.

Devon ‘Blackboy’ Peters was immediately freed on Tuesday and he was among the eight acquitted by a jury. The two who did not benefit from a not guilty verdict by the jury are Earl ‘Bobo’ Trimmingham and Lyndon ‘Iron’ James who will now have to face a fresh trial.

Two other accused men, Allan ‘Scanny’ Martin and Joel Fraser, were shot dead (last July during a failed prison break) and released following a no-case submission that was upheld by trial judge Malcolm Holdip, respectively.

The failure to free the seven was as a result of an administrative issue as they had been charged with the abduction of Naipaul-Coolman but this was not pursued by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) which opted to have the men indicted on the murder charge.

As the abduction charges are still on the men’s record, they were not immediately freed, as it is still registered against them, when a tracing was done by police.

Prisons Commissioner Sterling Stewart told Newsday yesterday, it was his understanding that the men had outstanding warrants and therefore they could not be released at this time.

One of the lawyers representing the men, Alexia Romero, was yesterday in contact with the Office of the DPP seeking their release.

She indicated she is prepared to file writs of habeas corpus on behalf of the men if discussions with the DPP fail.

Efforts to reach out to the Naipaul family were futile as they refused to comment.

They were reported as saying that this was a sensitive time for the family and were reported to have said, “It’s in God’s hands.’ Rennie Coolman, Naipaul-Coolman’s husband who testified at the trial and at one point was the focus of attention, could not be reached for comment.