Former junior national security minister Collin Partap will have to wait two more weeks for a decision in his trial for failing to provide a breath sample to the police. Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar was scheduled to rule on a no-case submission yesterday. However, when the case was called in Port-of-Spain Eighth Court, Ayers-Caesar told prosecutors and Partap’s legal team she needed additional time to prepare a written decision and adjourned the case to July 9.
While making the submission several weeks ago, Senior Counsel Israel Khan, who heads Partap’s legal team, said his client did not have a case to answer. 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. He said T&T’s legislation relating to breathalyser testing was different from that of the United Kingdom, Canada and other Commonwealth countries, as it specifically required police to reasonably suspect that drivers have exceeded the legal alcohol limit before asking for a breath sample. In response, state prosecutor George Busby said Khan’s submission was inconceivable and described it as “assertions that were not supported by legal authorities.”
According to the evidence, on August 25 last year, Partap was detained by police outside the Zen nightclub, Port-of-Spain, for allegedly refusing to take a breathalyser test. The Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar fired him hours after the incident. He is still the Cumuto/Manzanilla MP. His legal team includes Jagdeo Singh, Larry Lalla, Ravi Rajcoomar, Wayne Sturge, Keith Scotland and Daniel Khan.