Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar will rule on June 24 whether former minister in the Ministry of Security Collin Partap has a case to answer for allegedly failing to provide a breath sample to a police officer. Ayers-Caesar reserved the date after hearing three hours of submissions from State prosecutor George Busby and Partap’s lead attorney Israel Khan, SC.
If Partap succeeds in his application, the charge would be automatically dismissed. If not, he will testify in his defence or call defence witnesses before Ayers-Caesar makes the final determination. During yesterday’s hearing, Busby described Partap’s no-case submission as “assertions that were not supported by legal authorities.” He said: “None of the six grounds raised are capable in law of supporting a finding of no case.”
Recapping the evidence, Busby said Partap refused to provide the sample even though he had been asked more than five times, including once by acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams. Williams, who is the complainant, was not at yesterday’s hearing. While presenting the no-case submission at a previous hearing on May 15, Khan said:
“There is not an iota of evidence to support the prosecution’s case that the defendant, Collin Partap, failed to provide a specimen of breath to a constable as required of him under Section 70 (B) of the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act.”
Busby yesterday denied that claim. In his response to Busby’s submissions, Khan said T&T’s legislation relating to breathalyser testing was unique when compared to the United Kingdom, Canada and other Commonwealth countries. He said T&T’s legislation specifically required police to reasonably suspect that drivers have exceeded the legal alcohol limit before asking for a breath sample.
Khan said from the testimony of the police involved, there was no evidence which would lead them to believe Partap was above the legal alcohol limit of 35 microgrammes for every 100 millilitres of breath. Busby described that argument as inconceivable. Khan also asked why the breathalyser could not be administered on the spot and had to be done at the Belmont Police Station, approximately two-and-a-half miles away.