Lawyers and bailor freed of conspiracy charges

THE REMAINING two lawyers and bailor accused of conspiracy to pervert the course of public justice by using two false deeds to secure bail for Venezuelan drug trafficker Maximo Jose Gonzales, were freed yesterday after the State offered no further evidence in the matter. Justice Prakash Moosai said he was “astonished by the stance the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) took in this matter,” but added that he had to bear in mind that the DPP has the ultimate responsibility of prosecuting cases. Freed yesterday were attorneys Mervyn Mitchell, Ken Wright and bailor Patrick Hannibal. Last week,  attorney Yaseen Ali was also freed following legal submission by attorney Israel Khan SC. Defending the trio yesterday were Theodore Guerra SC, Pamela Elder SC, Gilbert Peterson SC, Osbourne Charles SC, Ravi Rajcoomar, Margaret Rose and Colin Selvon.

Justice Moosai said the DPP should at least have the benefit of the experience and wisdom of one SC working with the prosecution team. He further suggested that if the DPP’s department does not have an SC,  one should be sought from private practice. “Its the least that is required if the public is to continue to have confidence in the administration of justice,” he said. Even before the trial really got started, legal submissions by defence attorney Pamela Elder ripped through the heart of the prosecution’s case. She submitted that with the absence of evidence of Justice of the Peace Emmanuel Archie, whose signature was on six documents, the documents could not be admitted into evidence. Senior State prosecutor Wayne Rajbansie, assisted by Natasha George, said he was seeking to admit the documents, not to rely on them for the truth, but because they were made in the pursuance of the bail application.

The JP was cited as a prosecution witness at the Magistrates’ Court but did not give evidence. Elder argued that the documents had to be admitted through the JP, whether as truth or as original evidence. When hearing resumed yesterday, Rajbansie told the judge that after consultation with DPP Geoffrey Henderson it was decided no further evidence would be offered in the case. Justice Moosai pointed out that the question of what is admissible was up to the judge, not the DPP, but  Guerra explained that the DPP, in saying that he was not proceeding any further with the trial, was exercising the constitutional right vested in him alone as DPP and the court cannot say otherwise. Guerra commended the DPP and Rajbansie for acting in the highest tradition of the bar. He said although they had seen the light late, they have done the honourable thing. The jury of six women and three men were then instructed by the judge to formally return  verdicts of not guilty.