2 murder cases collapse – 8 men freed
By FRANCIS JOSEPH
Crystal Lewis was considered a star witness for the State in two murder cases. She was a witness against three men in a murder in Enterprise, Chaguanas. Then she became a witness against five men in a double murder in Laventille.
But when the time came for her to testify, she could not be found. Evidence revealed she migrated to the United States. That meant she was not available to the prosecution in Trinidad.
So, in both cases, the accused persons were set free. In the first case, three men were acquitted after being on remand for six years, while in the second case, five men were freed after ten years in jail. In the latter case, two of the men escaped from prison and made a video saying they were innocent and that the so-called witness was not telling the truth.
The First Case
The inability of the prosecutors to use the evidence of their main witness who migrated has led to three men from Enterprise, Chaguanas, being freed of murdering a fellow resident in 2015.
Dave Junior “Abdul Malik” Nesbitt, Adrian “Cudjoe” Clarke and Malcolm Quintin were discharged by Senior Magistrate Rajendra Rambachan, on November 12, 2021.
Nesbitt, Clarke and Quintin were accused of murdering Amos Dick, who was shot and killed at the corner of Mano Street and Postman Drive, Enterprise, Chaguanas, on October 17, 2015.
Quintin was 17-years-old when he was charged alongside Nesbitt and Clarke.
Magistrate Rambachan had rejected an application from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to use the witness statement of its main witness Crystal Lewis, who implicated the trio before migrating to the United States.
In that application, under Section 15 of the Evidence Act, the DPP’s Office claimed that Lewis could not be found despite reasonable steps being taken to find her. As a result, the Magistrate discharged the three men.
The Second Case
This case collapsed on Tuesday at the Hall of Justice, Port-of-Spain.
Five men were freed of murdering a couple in Laventille after spending almost a decade on remand awaiting trial.
Olatunji “Ola” Denbow, Michael “Mikey” Findlay, Kyle Belgrave, Seon “Max” Barnswell, and Kelon Maxine were discharged after State prosecutors offered no evidence against them when their case came up for trial before Justice Trevor Jones at the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain, yesterday morning.
They were accused of murdering Andre La Touche and Abiola Noel on February 22, 2016.
According to police reports, Noel, 25, and La Touche, 28, were leaving Noel’s Eastern Quarry, Laventille home in a silver Nissan Tiida around 8.30 am when gunmen approached the moving vehicle and fired several shots at it.
La Touche, the driver, crashed the vehicle into a concrete dumpster. The State’s case against the men was based on claims made by the same Crystal Lewis.
She claimed that when the couple arrived at Noel’s home the previous night, one of the men approached them and warned them that La Touche was not welcomed in the community.
She further alleged that she saw the men chasing after the car and were shooting at it the following morning.
The accused were seeking to rely on a statutory declaration given by Lewis in 2022. In the document, Lewis claimed that she framed the men at the request of the police so that they (the police) would not prosecute her then-boyfriend for firearm possession.
She added, “I felt pressured into giving the statement and I therefore gave the statement based on promises made to me by police officers.”
In announcing the decision by the Office of the DPP to discontinue the case, prosecutors Solange Devenish and Tammy Cato noted that the State did not accept the contents of the declaration.
However, they noted that the decision was based on the fact that they could not locate Lewis to testify against the group.
They said it would be unfair for Lewis’ statements implicating the men to be used as evidence when their attorneys would not be able to cross-examine her over claims in the declaration.
On May 15, 2019, Denbow and Findley escaped with six other prisoners from Remand Yard of the Golden Grove State Prison, Arouca. They were recaptured days later at a house in South Oropouche by members of the then Special Operations Response Team (SORT). The other six were held in St Helena and El Carmen, less than 24 hours after their escape.
On May 19, 2019, Denbow and Findley released a video where they expressed concerns about the credibility of a State witness (Crystal Lewis) in the several cases including the matter involving them.
Denbow said then, “Let we have we day in court, sooner than later nah, please….We not armed, we not dangerous. We do not intend to be dangerous. We don’t intend to be a danger to society, no how. We ready and willing to hand in weself. We just want fairness. As soon as allyuh ready for real justice.”
Prior to their recapture, then Police Commissioner Gary Griffith insisted that it is for the justice system to decide on their guilt or innocence and they will be pursued and recaptured.
After Justice Jones discharged them on Tuesday, the five walked to freedom.
