No Presidential Pardon for 5 killers

FIVE CONVICTED KILLERS, who applied for Presidential Pardons, have been blanked, while other felons who committed lesser crimes were the recipients of pardons during the period January 2002 to May 31, 2003. One of these killers is Wenceslaus James who was saved from the hangman’s noose in 1998. He applied to the Advisory Committee on the Power of Pardon (Mercy Committee) for a pardon, along with Kishendath Seepersad, Roger Sobers, Godson Neptune, and Boodram Bedassie. All five prisoners have been in jail for more than five years. Their death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment based on the guidelines laid down in the Pratt and Morgan case.

Twenty-nine persons applied to the Mercy Committee for pardons, while the Commissioner of Prisons Leo Abraham recommended eight convicted felons for Presidential Pardons. The list was released yesterday in the House of Representatives in a written statement supplied by Minister of National Security Howard Chin Lee. This was in response to a question from UNC MP Subhas Panday. Chin Lee, in his statement, said a total of 22 persons were granted Presidential Pardons during the period in question. Another 15 applications, he added, are still being processed. While James was fortunate to escape the hangman when he filed a constitutional motion, his partner in crime, Anthony Briggs was not so lucky. The State was able to execute Briggs in July 1999, the last man to be hanged in Trinidad.

James and Briggs were sentenced to death in 1995 for the murder of PH taxi driver Siewdath Ramkissoon at the Heights of Guanapo on August 5, 1992. They lost their appeals in the TT Court of Appeal and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The State read the death warrant to Briggs and James, but they were able to file constitutional motions challenging the execution. Briggs went to the gallows a month after Dole Chadee and his gang of eight were executed for four murders. Godson Neptune was sentenced to death for chopping his wife to death at their house in Westmoorings. Neptune’s defence was that he thought his wife was a snake when he chopped her with a cutlass. Fourteen of the persons who filed for Presidential Pardons were successful. The eight recommended by the Commissioner of Prisons were granted full pardons.

The felons who applied for pardons and were successful were:
* Moonesh Ramsubhaj - possession of marijuana.
* Finton De Veaux - larceny, breaking and entering.
* Rennie Rambharat - obscene language.
* Suruj Motiram - larceny.
* Randal Ramlochan - possession of marijuana.
* Glendon Kent - possession of cocaine.
* Kenrick James - larceny.
* Dayanand Mohess - making a false declaration.
* James Dennett - possession of a firearm, ammunition.
* Ramsaroop Ramjit - throwing missiles.
* Jason Julien - possession of marijuana.
* Aaron Wright - unlawfully pitching a stall on the street.
* Clyde Haynes - robbery with aggravation, kidnapping.
* Nigel Kerr - assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Those pardoned on the recommendation of the Commissioner of Prisons:
* Myra Bhagwansingh  - causing grievous bodily harm.
* Marcia Jupiter - larceny.
* Beville Loney - wounding with intent.
* Clint Abraham - breaking and entering dwelling houses.
* Brian Huggins - breaking and entering and larceny.
* Christopher Lewis - breaking and entering.
* Lawrence La Chapelle - armed robbery with a fish gun.
* Stephen Belgrave - armed robbery with a knife and gun.