After spending almost a decade on remand, a man from Port-of-Spain has been freed of murdering a vendor at the Tunapuna Market.
Kareem Halls was freed of the charge after High Court Judge Hayden St Clair-Douglas upheld a no-case submission brought by his lawyers, Kelston Pope and Dr Jens-Ulrich Poppen, after prosecutors closed their case against him.
Halls was accused of murdering Kadeem Sawyer on October 25, 2014.
Sawyer, of Achong Trace, Tunapuna, was at his vegetable stall at the market when he was approached by two men, who shot him several times before running away.
In March 2021, Sawyer’s 17-year-old brother, Christopher Cummings, went missing. Four days later, his body was found under sheets of galvanise in an empty lot near his home.
He had been shot several times.
In their no-case submission, Halls’ lawyers challenged the evidence of a witness to the murder.
Giving evidence in his brief trial earlier this month, the witness admitted that he did not see the front view of the faces of the men who attacked Sawyer.
He also confessed that he pointed Halls out in an identification parade because he matched the physique of one of Sawyer’s attackers.
Halls’ lawyers did not challenge the witness’ reliability, credibility and demeanour but claimed that the 12-member jury in the case should not consider his purported identification of Halls based on its quality.
Dealing specifically with the identification, they said it was made in challenging and uncertain circumstances.
“The identification was based on a fleeting and partial view of the men as they exited the vehicle and ran away,” they said.
“Importantly, they were not standing still but were in motion, which greatly reduces the reliability of any identification made in such circumstances,” they added.
Stating that there was no supporting evidence linking Halls to the crime besides from the witness, they said, “The case should be withdrawn from the jury’s deliberation, as there is a significant risk of an unsafe conviction, which could lead to a miscarriage of justice.”
Justice St Clair-Douglas agreed and directed the jury to return with a not-guilty verdict for Halls.
In a brief interview outside the Hall of Justice after he was freed, Halls said that he was pleased with the outcome as he waited several years for his case to come to trial due to protracted delays in the criminal justice system.
“I think I should have been freed six or seven years, now. Whilst I was in the system, I see like it changing up, and I give thanks for that. I was one of the few inmates selected to have their cases started this year. I thank God for that,” he said.
He said that he was excited to sample his mother’s cooking and to rekindle his relationship with his two daughters, including one who was three years old when he was charged and incarcerated.
“The only thing I excited to do right now is reunite with my loved ones,” he said, as he thanked his relatives for standing by him over the past decade.
