Singh laughs as Cassel’s lectern falls in court

With an almost permanent smile etched on his face, though at times even the smile made him appear expressionless, murder accused Dhanraj Singh sat quietly in the prisoners’ dock of the San Fernando First Assizes yesterday.

The former Minister of Government listened attentively to the testimony of Sandra and Kavita Sumairsingh, widow and daughter of former Chairman of the Rio Claro/Mayaro Regional Corporation, Hansraj Sumairsingh. Singh is on trial for Sumairsingh’s murder. Singh leaned forward but hardly moved as both Sumairsingh women broke down in tears as each related to State Attorney Devan Rampersad how they came upon the body of Hansraj on December 31, 1999 at his beach house in Mayaro.  In each instance Singh adjusted to a more relaxed position only when Justice Melville Baird intervened to ask the witnesses whether they could continue, he returned immediately to his “leaned forward” posture the moment each witness resumed her testimony.

Behind Singh, his mother sat at one end of the front row of the public gallery—a position she has occupied almost from the start of the trial that began more than three weeks ago. His father sat at the other end of the front row bench. Two rows behind, Singh’s wife, Leela, sat quietly throughout, hardly glancing in any direction other than straight ahead towards her husband, or towards the attorneys and witnesses in the box.

Between Singh’s parents and his wife, about 20 persons occupied the public gallery during the early part of the morning’s proceedings. By midday the gallery was filled to capacity with mostly elderly persons. With a loud “thud” that caught the attention of all present, British Queen’s Counsel, Timothy Cassel, who is leading the prosecution against Singh, watched as his lectern toppled from the inner bar table and crashed onto the carpeted floor.  The mishap caused Singh’s smile to broaden into a wide grin and prompted him to face reporters seated within only a few feet of him, and remark: “State case fall down”. The former Minister allowed himself a second laugh with media representatives when, after a mid-morning break, one of his attorneys, Prakash Ramadhar, persuaded the court to locate additional chairs for reporters, ‘some of whom were sitting up to then, on chairs provided for witnesses.

With a raised brow and a vertical shake of the head, Singh acknowledged reporters cluttered around a single media table, seemingly amused by the large number present. “The number is bound to increase as we go on,” Ramadhar observed.