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The Hall of Justice. - File photoSIX people, including two women, some of whom were previously held under ministerial preventative detention orders during the previous state of emergency, and later charged with conspiracy to murder, were discharged by the High Court after prosecutors failed to file an indictment.
The group had been charged with conspiring to murder a prison officer, but the court ruled it could not proceed because the State submitted no evidence.
Master Delicia Bethelmy made the ruling after being told the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions had received no police file and had not filed an indictment required for the sufficiency hearing. Defence attorneys argued the State also missed all disclosure deadlines set by a scheduling order issued April 14, which required an indictment, statements, and all intended evidence by July 31.
The six accused — Napthalie Bonaparte, of Enterprise; Joshua Mona, of Sangre Grande; Shackille Pinder, of Enterprise; Karissa Rampaul, of Enterprise and Cunupia; Jerel Baboolal, of Cunupia; and Curtis Dick, an inmate of the Port of Spain prison — were alleged to have participated in a plot to kill a prison officer between January 15 and 29. They held under PDOs in February during the previous SoE, declared on December 30, 2024.
At the hearing on December 3, Bethelmy ruled that, under section 11 of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Act, and with no application from the State to extend the deadline, the court had no indictment to consider and no evidence on which it could act. She ordered all six discharged under Rule 5(9)(5)(c) of the Criminal Procedure Rules.
The six were represented by attorneys Enrique Singh, Alejandro Gocking, Sheldon Guerra, Nicole Maharaj and Linda Davis.
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