Amidst loud cheers from relatives, a Nelson Street teen yesterday walked out of the Port-of-Spain Magistrates' Court a free man. This came when Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls dismissed a murder charge against him and another man after the sole eyewitness said he was unsure that the two men were the ones who killed his brother.
Ishmael Jackson, 18, and Joel Patino, of the same area, had been charged with shooting to death 47-year-old Sterling Trotman (Eddie Boo), relative of a gang leader, on April 21 this year. They also had several gun and ammunition charges laid against them. Trotman's brother was yesterday cross-examined for more than two hours by Jackson's attorney Daniel Khan. He initially stated in his testimony that he observed for five minutes, the two men who killed his brother. However, he later admitted to seeing the men for only five seconds and that he could have been mistaken. State Prosecutor Ravi Rajah then informed Mc Nicolls that he had to take instructions from the acting Director of Public Prosecution Carla Brown-Antoine and Mc Nicolls stood down the matter.
Rajah said the State had no other witnesses to prove its case. Khan in response said particular care had to be taken to ensure speedy trials for murder accused as a murder charge carries a death penalty. Mc Nicolls then dismissed the charges against the two men.
