‘A total, utter liar’

A DEFENCE attorney in the Clint Huggins murder trial yesterday described the State’s key witness, Swarsatee Maharaj, as “a total, utter liar.”

Ian Stuart Brook, attorney for Arnold Huggins, called Maharaj a liar on several occasions and suggested that she was never where she claimed.  On each occasion, Maharaj calmly responded that she was not a liar and said she was present when Clint Huggins was killed. Brook suggested to Maharaj that she lied about seeing Arnold shoot Clint Huggins at the Uriah Butler Highway, and also about seeing him waiting in ambush at the Sangre Grande market to shoot Clint. Arnold, his cousin Leslie Huggins and Junior Phillip are before Justice Alice York Soo-Hon in the Port-of-Spain Third Criminal Court charged with  murdering Clint on Carnival Tuesday , February 20, 1996, on the Uriah Butler Highway, Mt Hope.

Maharaj, the common-law wife of Leslie, is the prosecution’s main witness. She had gone through several hours of cross-examination by Brook last Friday and yesterday. He is expected to continue today and when he is through, Keith Scotland and Dawn Mohan, who represent Leslie,  and Obsourne Charles instructed by Christilyn Moore, will start their cross-examinations. In response to one of Brook’s questions, Maharaj said: ”Having gone through the evidence in such details with you, I now recalled the bright lights I spoke of was across the road.”

Maharaj, using a diagram she drew on a clip-board supplied by Brook,  also gave a detailed account of her movements with the accused from Sangre Grande to the Uriah Butler Highway, just before Clint was killed. Brook sought to have Maharaj draw another diagram illustrating. Prosecutors in the matter are Wayne Rajbansie and Natasha George.