Grandison’s declaration, a lie

Prosecutors have trashed Junior Grandison’s 2011 statutory declaration in which he claimed he lied about nine of the ten men convicted of the 1997 murder of Thackoor Boodram.

“The statutory declaration is a lie, stage-managed by the appellants,” special prosecutor Travers Sinanan submitted as the State responded to submissions advanced by attorneys representing the ten. It is the contention of nine of the ten that their convictions – which were based solely on Grandison’s testimony at the trial – were unsafe and must be overturned by the appellate court.

Sinanan, however, countered this, saying even convicted killer Michael “Rat” Maharaj, in taped conversations which have been submitted to the court by the appellants, said he did not trust Grandison. “But he wants you to believe him,” Sinanan told Justices of Appeal Alice Yorke-Soo Hon, Rajendra Narine and Prakash Moosai, who have reserved their ruling on the appeal.

Sinanan submitted that not only were the telephone conversations hearsay but added to Grandison’s statutory declaration they were designed to undermine the interest of justice and should not be admitted into evidence.

“This ‘fresh evidence’ is not capable of belief and should be rejected,” he urged the judges, adding that Grandison’s trial testimony stood as truthful and credible.

He also pointed to the further retraction Grandison gave to retired ACP David Nedd, six weeks after he gave his statutory declaration on June 1, 2011. “It took him ten years to make it (the statutory declaration) yet in six weeks he gives two statements, one signed and one unsigned, where he repudiated his statement,” Sinanan said.