PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The lawyers representing nine men who have successfully sued the State for malicious prosecution in the murder of a prominent businesswoman in 2016, Wednesday dismissed as a “joke” a statement by Attorney General Reginald Armour that a necessary file “had disappeared” even though the relevant department had received it.
In a statement, the attorneys, including former attorney general Anand Ramlogan, said that the information by Armour during a news conference on Wednesday “is ridiculous and amusing,” adding, “we can say, without fear of contradiction by anyone, that the facts will quickly demonstrate that the Ministry of the Attorney General, was kept fully abreast of this case at every step of the litigation.
“Indeed, the Court itself issued notifications to the State as the matter progressed, and we fully complied with our duty to serve the relevant documents on the State throughout the case.
Armour Wednesday said an investigation had been launched to determine how the State was unable to file a defense in a matter in which it has been ordered to compensate nine men TT$2.1 million (One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents) each after they were acquitted of the murder of businesswoman Vindra Naipaul-Coolman in 2016.
Speaking at a news conference, Armor said that an important file that would have alerted the Office of the Attorney General to the matter “disappeared,” adding “that file was never brought to the attention of the Attorney General’s Secretariat.
“It was received at the Solicitor General Department …on one day, and the following day it went missing, and the first that the Attorney General’s Secretariat learned of the existence of this claim was when the judgment was delivered on Monday of this week January 31,” Armour told reporters.
“Let me emphasize, citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, that by what I have just said, I am not seeking to pass the buck. I accept that the buck stops here (and) as Attorney General, I am responsible under the constitution for the management and conduct of civil litigation by and against the State of Trinidad and Tobago.
“What has occurred, just to repeat, is grievous, and it must never be allowed to happen again, and I give to the public of Trinidad and Tobago full assurance that as soon as I have had the results of the investigation, which I have ordered, I will be accounting further to the citizenry fully and transparently,” Armour added.
Naipaul-Coolman, 52, the former chief executive of the supermarket chain Naipaul’s Xtra Foods, was kidnapped from the driveway of her residence in Lange Park, Chaguanas, in west-central Trinidad, on the night of December 19, 2016. Her body was never found. Her kidnappers had demanded a three million dollar ransom for her release.
On Monday, High Court Master, Martha Alexander, awarded TT$19,168,917.56 for malicious prosecution and exemplary damages; costs amounting to $200,917.56; and the cost of an expert witness of $68,000, making it perhaps the most significant award in Trinidad and Tobago’s judicial history.
Interest will be added to the damages for each man, at a rate of 2.5 percent, from May 29, 2020, to January 30, this year.
“Persons plucked out of society and thrown into a maelstrom where they are incarcerated for nine years on questionable evidence should not be expected to adjust, survive or thrive in abysmal prison conditions such as to justify ‘tapering off’ compensatory awards,” Master Alexander said in her ruling.
The nine men – Shervon Peters, Devon Peters, Anthony Gloster, Joel Fraser, Ronald Armstrong, Keida Garcia, Jameel Garcia, Marlon Trimmingham, and Antonio Charles – were among ten persons who had gone on trial in 2016 for Naipaul-Coolman’s murder.
Eight were acquitted, and one was released after the trial judge upheld a no-case submission. But two men – Earl “Bobo” Trimmingham and Lyndon “Iron” James – were ordered to be re-tried while Allan “Scanny” Martin, who was also on trial, was killed in 2016 during a failed escape attempt from the Frederick Street prison in Port of Spain. In October 2021, Gloster was killed in a drive-by shooting in Diego Martin, west of here.
The nine men had filed a malicious prosecution claim in May 2020, which the State did not defend, despite having entered an appearance.
In their statement, the lawyers questioned, “how on earth could the Attorney General actively participate in litigation for over two and a half years without a file?
“The court records can easily prove that the Attorney General was presented and represented at the trial of the assessment of damages in this matter,” they said, adding, “ a cursory glance at the historic 31-page judgment… reveals that the lawyers representing the Attorney General’s legal team made robust oral arguments and written submissions in this matter.
The lawyers said they would not be scapegoats for the State, adding that a jury freed the men.
and then 