Marlon King judge again asked to hold hand on new murder trial

ANOTHER attempt has been made for the judge presiding over the trial of Marlon King to hold his hand on proceeding with the case, for now.

Attorney Peter Carter, who is representing King at his appeal at the Privy Council, told the judge an application for leave to petition the London court was filed on October 22.

King was sentenced to hang for his stepdaughter Amy Emily Annamunthodo’s 2006 murder when he was convicted by a jury after six days of directions by then-Justice Anthony Carmona.

Carter will provide the court and the prosecution with a copy of the notice filed. He received permission to provide the judge with an update on King’s appeal of the retrial ordered.

The matter was adjourned to December 1, since King’s attorneys said they have not received instructions from him on certain issues, such as the mode of his new trial. He is currently in quarantine for covid19 at the Port of Spain prison and this is expected to end on November 30, a prison officer told the judge at the start of Wednesday’s hearing.

Carter on Wednesday again asked Justice St Clair-Douglas to revisit his earlier position to proceed with the 16-year-old matter with expedition.

The judge has repeatedly said the Appeal Court ordered him to progress the matter, reminding attorneys on more than one occasion he had no court-ordered stay to prevent him from progressing the case to trial.

But Carter asked him on Wednesday to reconsider that position and take a wider interpretation of the Court of Appeal’s order, which instructed that the retrial was to be case-managed and heard expeditiously, as far as practicable.

Carter said it would not be “practicable” to proceed with the trial while the matter was before the Privy Council. He also said it was “debatable” if the Appeal Court had the power to direct a court to hear a matter expeditiously.

King had successfully argued his appeal against conviction, which was quashed by a three-member Court of Appeal panel. The court found several faults with the trial judge’s handling of his case in 2012.

Annamunthodo, four, was tortured and beaten to death. She suffered multiple internal and external injuries.

King was charged with killing the child – who weighed 33 pounds, was unable to speak properly and was underdeveloped – on May 15, 2006, at his home at Ste Madeleine Road, Marabella. He was in a common-law relationship with Annamunthodo’s mother, Anita.

Representing King at his retrial are attorneys Mario Merritt and Karunaa Bisramsingh. Prosecutor Danielle Thompson appeared for the State.