Kaia Sealy has been granted $700,000 bail upon making her first court appearance hours after returning to Trinidad from the United States, this morning.
Sealy, a hair stylist from Mendez Drive, Champ Fleurs, was granted bail when she appeared before High Court Master Nazeera Ali from the Tunapuna Police Station, a short while ago.
Dressed in a grey hoodie, Sealy sat silently throught the hearing which lasted a little over an hour.
She was only asked to confirm her condition.
“I am okay. I would have to have my catheter removed by a doctor or nurse,” Sealy said.
During the hearing, Master Ali read eight criminal charges Sealy is accused of that arose from a controversial police-involved shooting at corner of College Road and Bassie Street Extension, St Augustine on January 20.
She was charged with unlawfully killing her partner Joshua Samaroo (manslaughter); shooting at police officers Quincy Simon, Darryl Bartholomew, and Gary Duncan with intent to cause them grevious bodily harm; possession of a Glock pistol and two rounds of ammunition; possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life; and discharging a firearm within 40 metres of a public road.
Sealy was not called upon to plead to the charges, which were laid indictably.
Police prosecutor Anthony Jacob did not object to bail for Sealy based on her having a clean criminal record before being charged in relation to the incident.
He also considered submissions from Sealy’s lawyers Larry Williams, and Fayola Sandy, who said that their client had to return to the US periodically to continue treatment and rehabilitation for injuries she sustained in the incident, which left her as a parapalegic.
In granting Sealy bail, Master Ali directed that she provide the court and the police with details of her travel arranagements a week before she plans to leave Trinidad to return to Boston, Massachusetts, to continue her treatment including being fitted for a custom wheelchair.
She also set deadlines for the filing of evidence and witness statements against Sealy and set her sufficency hearing for October 22.
At the start of the hearing, Williams raised concerns over how Sealy was treated upon her return to Trinidad.
He said that while the police had agreed that she would be allowed to be examined by a doctor before surrendering to police, she was instead arrested at the Piarco International Airport and taken to the Arouca Police Station.
He said that she was placed in an unsanitary cell despite concerns raised over her medical condition.
“They (the police) did not even have hand sanitizer,” Williams said.
Jacob apologised as he claimed that the plan had to be changed as senior police officers stated that the summons under which she was notified of the charges was not served within the required time as she was abroad.
Asked to disclose a summary of the evidence against Sealy, Jacob stated that the State would be relying on 30 witnesses and exihibits including a gun, two rounds of ammunition and three spent shells that were allegedly found in the couple’s car after the shooting.
He requested a month for the case file to be transferred to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for a State prosecutor to be assigned.
