Lawyers representing some of the accused people affected by former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar’s short-lived appointment as a High Court judge are questioning why their clients were not consulted before the decision was made to restart their cases.
Speaking with the T&T Guardian after the judiciary issued a release announcing its decision yesterday, defence attorneys Wayne Sturge and Criston J Williams said they expected the decision would not sit well with their clients, many of whom have been on remand for several years.
“Don’t be surprised if there is mayhem. You can’t expect a man to lose seven years of his life in custody and simply accept that the administration of justice made a mistake. We are all enjoying our liberty while they are suffering,” Sturge said.
Williams described the decision as the “least palatable” for his clients, who had already openly expressed their concerns during hearings of their cases after Ayers-Caesar was promoted from the magistracy. All the cases left unfinished by Ayers-Caesar come up for hearing next Thursday.
Both Sturge and Williams questioned whether the judiciary considered the fact the accused men will now have to pay for lawyers for the restarted hearings.
“Do defence attorneys have to start over these cases for free? What about the ability of the accused to pay for justice to be done when they already expended so much?” Williams asked.
Sturge also suggested his clients were considering filing a judicial review seeking compensation for all legal fees incurred due to the decision.
While the judiciary claimed the accused men’s cases will be fast-tracked using the new Criminal Procedure Rule, Sturge said this may be more difficult in practice.
“Sadly, in T&T paper committals don’t work the way they are meant to work and with the criminal bar being so small, delay is inevitable,” Sturge said.
High Profile matters left by Ayers-Caesar:
1. Jamaat-al-Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr’s case for allegedly refusing to appear before the Commission of Enquiry into the 1990 attempted coup. Ayers-Caesar was scheduled to give her ruling on Bakr’s innocence or guilt before she was appointed a High Court judge.
2. Former Public Service Association (PSA) general secretary Nixon Callender’s case for assaulting former PSA executive member Rosana Robinson at the organisation’s headquarters in Port-of-Spain in August 2011.
3. Caribbean Communications Network (CCN) case for allegedly breaching the Sexual Offences Act by broadcasting a video depicting the rape of a 13-year-old girl which was broadcast in 2011. The video was aired on Ian Alleyne’s Crime Watch programme on TV6 at the time. Alleyne has already pleaded guilty to the charge and was fined. The company maintained its not guilty plea and also faces six charges under the Telecommunications Act for alleged breaches of its licence and concession issued by the Telecommunications Authority (TATT).
4. The preliminary inquiry of six men accused of ruder, who allegedly caused a near riot at the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court after Ayers-Caesar’s promotion. Anton Cambridge, Anthony Charles, Kireem Gomez, Israel Lara, Levi Joseph and Chicki Portello have been in remand since December 2010, when they were charged with murdering 27-year-old Russell Antoine. Antoine, of Covigne Road, Diego Martin, was shot dead near his home on May 13, 2009.
The group is also facing charges for shooting with intent to cause grievous bodily harm as Antoine’s friends Marcus and Joseph Spring, who were wounded in the incident but survived.
