Ayers-Caesar’s cases must restart

A HIGH COURT judge had some harsh words on the débâcle which resulted from the elevation of former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar to the high court bench and her subsequent resignation after it was discovered she left 53 unfinished cases in the magistrates’ court.

Justice Carol Gobin minced no words as she ruled on an interpretation claim sought by the Attorney General who asked the court to determine how to conclude cases left unfinished by Ayers-Caesar in April 2017, when she was elevated as a high court judge.

The consequence of her ruling means the cases that are still in limbo will have to be restarted as she has held that part-heard cases cannot continue before a different magistrate and must be started afresh.

Gobin was also asked to determine if any of the cases could be continued by Ayers-Caesar or whether they could be restarted afresh before Chief Magistrate Maria Busby Earle-Caddle.

Gobin delivered a draft judgement in the case on January 4 but only released a final edited version on Thursday.

“What has happened here is a travesty of justice. The stain on the administration of justice will remain indelible long after the cries and protests of justifiably angry suffering prisoners have gone quiet and long after the families of victims who, too, have been waiting for justice to be done, resign themselves to further delay. It may go some small way to alleviating the pain and injustice of this on all sides if those responsible are held to account."

She added that further redress, including constitutional relief by those affected, “may well be available” to them.

When Ayers-Caesar was appointed a judge and then resigned after affected prisoners rioted at the magistrates’ court, it was disclosed she left 53 cases unfinished.

In another ruling, in another case, in November, it was disclosed that only 14 of the 53 cases left unfinished by Ayers-Caesar were left to be determined. Gobin noted that all she was doing was offering “broad guidelines” on what the current state of the law permitted.

This includes the murder inquiry of the men who rioted, including Akilli Charles, who also filed a judicial review claim which Gobin decided as part of the interpretation summons claim.

In her decision, she said while neither the Summary Courts Act or cases initiated under the Preliminary Enquiry (Indictable Offences) Act “permits or prohibits” the continuation of a case, the law did not contemplate continuation of a part-heard matter by a magistrate other than the one who started it.

“In the result the general position on the current state of the law is that the part-heard matters cannot be continued before a different magistrate and must be started de novo,” Gobin ruled. "This is what the law requires and, as the case law establishes, it has, so far, been recognised as an important mechanism to protect the Constitutional rights of an accused person to a fair trial and hearing," she said.

Attorneys representing Charles were informed of Gobin’s decision Friday when their cases came up in the Port of Spain Magistrates Court.

He was not brought to the court because of security measures in place for the hearing of the preliminary inquiry into the murder of Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal.

In Charles’ claim, Gobin rejected his arguments but ordered that he was entitled to part of the legal costs from the State. He had argued that he spent $150,000 in legal fees in his matter before it was aborted and had no means of raising the funds if the case was to be restarted.

He said it was oppressive since he had been in jail since 2010 on a murder charge.

His preliminary inquiry began before Ayers-Caesar in 2012, and more than 60 witness statements received and several witnesses cross-examined.

Gobin also suggested that Busby Earle-Caddle consider recusing herself from Charles' new preliminary inquiry based on her previous involvement while the interpretation case was pending.

Gobin also offered advice to the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC) to avoid problems when magistrates were promoted in the future.

She said that each prospective candidate should be first asked the amount of part heard cases they had and the answers should be verified by an appropriate system.

Gobin did credit Busby Earle-Caddle and her colleagues with managing to complete several of the 53 matters.

The Attorney General was represented by Gilbert Peterson, SC, Jason Mootoo and Rishi Dass, while Michael Quamina represented Busby-Earle-Caddle. Elaine Green represented the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).

Anand Ramlogan, SC, Gerald Ramdeen and Ganesh Saroop represented Charles.

The Law Association and Criminal Bar Association were represented by Theresa Hadad and Rajiv Persad.