Magistrate in Dana Seetahal case won't step down

THE magistrate presiding over the Dana Seetahal murder enquiry will not be stepping down from presiding over the matter, on the ground of apparent bias.

Senior Magistrate Indrani Cedeno gave her ruling this morning at a sitting at the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain.

She was initially asked to step down from hearing the matter by two of the accused men - Rajaee Ali and Earl Richards. This was later withdrawn by two.

Ali and 13 others were charged with Seetahal’s murder which happened on May 4, 2014. She was shot dead behind the wheel of her SUV while driving along Hamilton Holder Street in Woodbrook.

Ali, his brothers Ishmael and Hamid Ali; Devaughn Cummings, Ricardo Stewart, Richards, Stephan Cummings, Kevin Parkinson, Leston Gonzales; Roget Boucher and Gareth Wiseman were initially charged with the crime. They, along with Rajaee’s wife Stacy Griffith, Deon Peters and David Ector, were also charged under the Anti-Gang Act for being members of a gang.

In 2016, the DDP’s Office applied to amend the gang charges due to an administrative error made when they were laid on the group.

Cedeno ruled that the time for making the amendment had expired, so the charges were dropped. Peters and Ector were freed, while Griffith remained as she was charged with an unrelated gang offence.

The State appealed the decision but the appeal was filed late and had to be withdrawn. A new application to retroactively extend the time is expected to be filed and a new date set by the court of appeal.

In December, the murder charge was discontinued against Cummings, who was instead charged with conspiring to murder Seetahal.

Ector was killed earlier this year.