New trial date for Insp Alexander

Notwithstanding a desire to start the trial of former TV6 crime show co-host Inspector Roger Alexander and another officer, it has again been deferred and is not likely to get underway until the new year.

Alexander and PC Sheldon Mires’ trial for assault was expected to start before Senior Magistrate Nannette Forde-John in the Port of Spain Four A Court yesterday, however Alexander’s lead counsel Gilbert Peterson,SC, indicated there was some difficult on the part of the defence to do so.

After some discussion, it was agreed that the two policemen will return to court on November 28 when a timetable will be set for the hearing.

Magistrate Forde-John urged both the defence and prosecution to file and exchange statements and submissions so that they can focus on the issues and the witnesses who would be germane to the case when the trial begins.

Alexander is charged with assaulting Santa Cruz resident Christopher Charles in July of last year, causing him actual bodily harm. PC Mires is charged alongside Alexander with two similar offences arising out of the same incident. He is charged with assaulting Charles by way of beating him and also committing common assault upon the alleged victim. The offences were alleged to have taken place in Santa Cruz.

Alexander’s and Mires’ case was transferred by acting Chief Magistrate Maria Busby Earle-Caddle, who recused herself from hearing the trial since Alexander was involved in a school mentoring project of which she was involved. The two policemen were first expected to go on trial in May, for the 2016 charges before former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar, who was subsequently appointed a High Court judge on April 12, and later resigned after it was revealed she left behind a number of part-heard cases on her magisterial docket.

Senior Counsel Gilbert Peterson and attorney Lee Merry are representing Alexander, while Mires is being represented by defence attorney John Heath. Senior State attorneys Angelica Teelucksingh-Ramoutar and Mauricia Joseph are prosecuting.