Defence: What did Lindquist do?

SENIOR COUNSEL Fyard Hosein wants the diaries of the Anti-Corruption Investigating Bureau (ACIB) to see what role Canadian forensic expert Bob Lindquist and his team played in 2002 and 2003 in the investigations into the $1.6 billion Piarco Airport Terminal Development Project. “There is nothing but silence about the people who worked in this Bureau, about those who interfered with documents. We want to see whether there was abuse,” Hosein told the court yesterday.

Hosein made a formal request for an order for the prosecution to hand over extracts and/or the diaries of the ACIB for the period 2002-2003 to see when Lindquist, Hans Marshdorf, and other foreign experts arrived and departed from the Bureau’s headquarters on Richmond Street, Port-of-Spain. Hosein’s request came during his cross-examination of Corporal Joanne Archie of the ACIB. He asked the witness to produced the diaries to see when Lindquist and other foreigners arrived and left the Bureau. Acting Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Carla Brown-Antoine, one of the prosecutors, objected.

She said the diaries could only be produced to refresh the memory of a witness. She said this was made clear in two Court of Appeal decisions which she did not have with her in court yesterday. In his response, Hosein said the Standing Orders of the Police Service require that persons arriving and leaving a police station be logged in the station diary. “It is going to be an issue in this case as to the role of Lindquist and Marshdorf, because those persons did something in relation to this matter. We want to know their role, function, and duties. We want to know if they dealt with documents, if they gave opinions in this matter.”

Hosein, who represents John Henry Smith and Barbara Gomes, asked that extracts of the station diaries be brought to tell the times and dates when Lindquist and his team visited the Bureau. “The station diary is crucial. We don’t know why the prosecution continues to refuse to assist us in this regard. There is nothing but silence about those people who worked in this Bureau, about those who interfered with documents. We want to see whether there was abuse. Cpl Archie will be further cross-examined when hearing resumes this morning.