UNC: 'Mix up' is lame excuse by Office of AG in Vindra case

CHAGUANAS West MP Dinesh Rambally scoffed at news reports on Sunday that the Attorney General's Office claimed court documents in a lawsuit by accused persons in the Vindra Naipaul-Coolman murder case had been sent to the wrong department in the ministry.

The mix-up claim was made in the ministry's recent application to set aside the High Court's recent $20 million compensation awarded to nine men accused of the murder. Otherwise regarding criminal charges, eight men have been acquitted and two ordered to retrial.

Rambally was addressing a news briefing at the Opposition Leader's office in Port of Spain on Sunday, where he alternated between dubbing the latest development "a comedy of errors" and "a tragedy."

On January 30, Master Martha Alexander awarded the men $2 million each in an assessment of their malicious prosecution claim, which went undefended by the State. Two days after the court’s award, Armour told a news conference the first time his office had heard of the malicious prosecution claim was when the decision was given.

He said the file had gone missing.

A team of retired judge Stanley John and retired ACP Pamela Schullera-Hinds were brought in to probe what went wrong while another retired judge Rolston Nelson,SC, was retained to advise the Attorney General on the way forward with the malicious prosecution case,

On Monday, the Office of the Attorney General advised that an application had been filed by the State asking the court to set aside the default judgment and the $20 million awarded to the nine men.

In the application, it was alleged that the claim was served on the wrong department in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs.

In the application to set aside the default judgment, Legal Director of the Attorney General’s Secretariat Tenille Ramkissoon said the malicious prosecution claim was improperly served on the Chief State Solicitor’s Department. She said section 20 (1) of the State Liability and Proceedings Act, states that litigation against the State should be served on the AG’s Office through the Solicitor General or personnel that are designated through a notice in the Gazette.

However, on Sunday, Rambally accused Attorney General Reginald Armour, SC, of incompetence in this matter.

"The entire citizenry of TT, we are now going to have to foot a bill of $20 million because of the incompetence of Reginald Armour, SC."

Rambally said the excuse had reeked of the schoolboy's excuse of "the dog ate my homework."

On the alleged mix-up, he asked if the AG's office really expected the public to believe that each department did not have a designated person to receive legal documents.

"You have all of these systems and to mean to tell me there was a mix-up and using language like sinister? The incompetence is at your doorstep!"

Rambally also urged the AG to publish the interim report delivered by John and Schullera-Hinds on Friday.

He cited a media editorial complaining of Armour's allegedly self-congratulatory photo-op with John's interim report.

Rambally said since last week, the application to set aside the default judgment was filed but asked if this had been timely, given they had been told long before to apply to set aside the judgement if they had concerns.

"One of the limbs in satisfying the court that a judgement should be set aside is how quickly you move to make an application to set aside."

He also worried about blurred lines arising if Nelson was advising the State on this matter and also set to be the State's advocate attorney in the case. Rambally asked how could Nelson be advising the AG and then later on stand up in court as an independent advocate.