A Mayaro man has won an appeal over his conviction for murdering his ex-girlfriend and her 18-month-old son in 2005.
Appellate Judges Alice Yorke-Soo Hon, Mark Mohammed and Maria Wilson quashed Anand Baboolal’s conviction, as they upheld his appeal during a virtual hearing yesterday.
Despite their decision in Baboolal’s case, the judges decided against a retrial, as they opted to use their discretion to substitute convictions for the lesser offence of manslaughter.
Justice Mohammed, who delivered the panel’s judgement, stated that he and his colleagues agreed with Baboolal’s lawyer Daniel Khan and Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) George Busby that manslaughter convictions based on the partial defence of provocation may be the likely outcome of a retrial based on the evidence.
He also pointed out that the panel agreed that a retrial would not be in the interest of justice, considering the recently phased reintroduction of jury trials following a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After being convicted of the murders in 2016, Baboolal received the mandatory death penalty.
However, his sentence was effectively commuted to life imprisonment, as the death penalty was not carried out within five years of his conviction as required under the landmark Privy Council ruling in the Jamaican case of Pratt and Morgan.
The appeal panel did not immediately decide on the appropriate sentence for Baboolal, as Khan and Busby requested time to make extensive submissions on the issue.
The submissions are expected to be filed by June 17, with the panel sentencing Baboolal on June 30.
Baboolal was charged with murdering 26-year-old Ria Ramlochan and her son Timothy Ragbir in August 2005.
Ramlochan was found in the latrine at her Solomon Avenue, Mayaro home. She had been stabbed three times in her chest and abdomen. Her son’s body was found wrapped in a fishing net in the Mafeking River. An autopsy revealed that he had over a dozen stab wounds and cuts on his body. His pubic area was also found to be mutilated.
During his trial, prosecutors presented a confession statement, which they claimed Baboolal gave days after his arrest.
In the statement, Baboolal allegedly told police that on the day of the incident, he visited Ramlochan’s home and they had an argument.
He claimed that she lunged at him with a knife and he attempted to disarm her.
He also allegedly said that they fell on the bed where her son was lying and that he accidentally stabbed her while they were wrestling for the weapon.
Baboolal claimed that he blacked out upon seeing the large quantity of blood and only remembered waking up in his brother’s home the following morning.
Although Baboolal did not testify at the trial, his attorneys contended that the statement was fabricated and Baboolal was threatened by investigators at gunpoint to sign it.
In the appeal, Baboolal’s lawyers claimed that the trial judge made errors in advising the jury on how to consider the statement and the notes from two previous interviews, in which Baboolal denied any wrongdoing and claimed that he was at his father’s home at the time of the incident.
They also challenged the judge’s handling of a witness, who claimed that he saw Baboolal near Ramlochan’s home on the day she was alleged to have been killed.
Baboolal’s claims over the judge’s summation of the evidence in the case were all dismissed by the appeal panel.
“It was clear, cogent and concise,” Justice Mohammed said.
The only ground on which the panel agreed is that the judge did not properly direct the jury on how to consider whether Baboolal could benefit from the partial defence of provocation.
Baboolal was also represented by Ula Nathai-Lutchman, while Sabrina Dougdeen-Jaglal appeared alongside Busby for the DPP’s Office.
