The Court of Appeal has ordered a retrial for a man from east Port-of-Spain, accused of murdering a fellow resident in 2008.
Delivering a judgment on Wednesday, Appellate Judges Alice Yorke-Soo Hon, Gregory Smith, and Malcolm Holdip upheld Hakim “Gargamel” Brathwaite’s appeal over his conviction.
Brathwaite was charged with murdering Kevin Miguel Williams on May 19, 2008.
The State’s only witness against Brathwaite was Inspector Kester Billy, who claimed to have witnessed the crime.
During his trial in 2016, Billy claimed that he was walking along South Quay in Port-of-Spain on his way to work when he heard a volley of gunshots emanating from a nearby housing complex.
He testified that when he went to investigate he saw Brathwaite, whom he claimed to know for 10 years prior, standing over Williams and shooting him (Williams) in his head.
Brathwaite ran away and Billy did not pursue him as he (Billy) sought to contact colleagues and secure the crime scene.
Williams succumbed to four gunshot wounds at the scene.
Brathwaite was arrested shortly after the incident and was charged after Billy identified him during a verification exercise.
Brathwaite testified in his defence and denied any wrongdoing.
He claimed that at the time of the shooting, he was at his East Dry River home with his common-law wife and their two children.
He also claimed that Billy could not have known him for the length of time he (Billy) claimed.
Brathwaite said that he first met Billy in 2005 when he (Billy) charged him with resisting arrest and using obscene language over an incident in which he refused Billy’s instructions to extinguish a fire that he did not start.
He claimed that after that incident, he tried to avoid Billy, whom he accused of repeatedly threatening to have him incarcerated.
Despite his claims of fabrication and mistaken identity, Brathwaite was convicted of the crime and given the mandatory death penalty.
In his appeal, his lawyers Peter Carter and Aleena Ramjag claimed that the judge, who presided over his trial, failed to properly caution the 12-member jury that found him guilty, for them to consider whether Billy had an interest to serve by implicating him.
The appeal panel agreed.
In rejecting the submissions and ordering the retrial, Justice Yorke-Soo Hon said: “Any deliberate killing of another human being cannot be described by any other means other than heinous.”
Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Sabrina Dougdeen-Jaglal represented the State.