Prisons officers freed of murder

Colleagues of prisons officers Devindra Ramdial and Ansen Griffith yesterday packed the courtroom prior to the jury’s return from deliberating, and shouted for joy when the jury returned the not guilty verdicts of murder and the alternative manslaughter.

The 12-member panel deliberated for one hour and 30 minutes. Griffith, 28, and Ramdial, 36, were on trial before Justice Mark Mohammed charged with the murder of Anton Cooper. Cooper, 24, of Indian Walk, Moruga, was found dead in his cell on June 26, 2001, less than 24 hours after he had been remanded for assault and malicious damage charges. When Griffith emerged from the Hall of Justice his colleagues, who were patiently waiting on the steps of the building, warmly embraced him as they declared justice had been served. Ramdial exited the building via another route to avoid the media glare.

His attorney Pamela Elder SC, however, was applauded by the prisons officers as she walked out of the building.

In a brief interview with the media, Griffith described the State’s main witness Barry Moore Briggs as “a liar who should be charged with attempted murder.” He said Briggs’ evidence against him and his colleague was “unjust, false and malicious.”

Briggs claimed to have witnessed Cooper being beaten by a group of prisons officers on the evening of June 25, 2001. Briggs, who was then an inmate at the prison, said Ramdial and Griffith had been among that group of officers.

Briggs said a screaming Cooper had been beaten with riot batons and had been kicked and cuffed by the officers. He had told the court he was later offered special privileges at the prison in exchange for his silence.

When called to give his account of what happened on that evening, Griffith said when he went to the cell in which Cooper was being kept with several other prisoners, he (Cooper) was holding on to the gate and was “bawling and spitting.” He said Cooper had a cut on his face, which was bleeding. Griffith said Ramdial calmed the inmate, ordered him out of the cell and, along with another officer, escorted him to the bathroom to wash the blood off his face. The accused said Cooper was then taken to another cell because the other prisoners with whom he had been sharing a cell, had complained that he (Cooper) was “making life uncomfortable” for them.

Griffith was represented by Gilbert Peterson SC, while attorneys Israel Khan SC, Kathy-Ann Waterman-Latchoo and Tricia Hudlin prosecuted.