Judge: Appeal Court will consider backlog when deciding on retrials

HEAVILY populated trial lists and severely clogged courts along with the age of criminal cases will now be the guiding principles which the Appeal Court will consider when deciding to order retrials.

This was again articulated on Thursday when the court upheld the appeal of a police officer jailed for 18 years for the rape of a teenager with whom he was in a relationship and quashed his 2019 conviction.

Justices of Appeal Mark Mohammed, Maria Wilson and Ronnie Boodoosingh presided over the appeal of Visham Ragoo.

In delivering their ruling, Mohammed said the court would now place significant weight on the age of alleged offences and also the backlog of cases in the criminal justice system.

"The criminal courts are heavily populated and severely clogged."

While this he noted that the approach might not sit well with the public who may opine that justice was not dispensed the way it ought to have been, Mohammed said the court could not make decisions based on the public's views.

Mohammed acknowledged that, in the past, the backlog and heavy case lists were not a consideration in determining whether retrials should be ordered. However, he said given the present severity of the situation, it was in the best interest of justice that it now become a factor.

At his appeal, Ragoo had faulted the trial judge's handling of his case by allowing inadmissible evidence. He also complained about the competence of his trial counsel.

In October 2019, he was found guilty of grievous sexual assault on the girl on February 4, 2008; common assault on February 4; rape on June 12; grievous sexual assault on June 12; assault occasioning actual bodily harm on or about June 12; and false imprisonment on June 12, 2008.

All the offences were allegedly committed against the girl in Freeport.

The teenager was said to be two months pregnant when some of the offences took place and Ragoo was a police officer for nine years.

At the trial in the San Fernando High Court, it was the State’s case that Ragoo had an affair with the teenager in 2005. He was charged on June 15, 2008, when she made a report to the police.

Part of the prosecution’s evidence was an audio recording of the February 4, 2008, alleged grievous sexual assault, in which Ragoo allegedly placed his hand in the victim's private parts while she was pregnant, and the common assault, where a knife and gun were used while she was threatened, which was played to the jury.

The teenager miscarried days after the assault.

The audio recordings were allegedly found by the girl on Ragoo’s phone and she saved it on her own and took it to a popular crime talk show host before going to the police.

Ragoo did not testify at his trial but called his ex-wife, his wife, and two police officers as his witnesses. He also testified at the Appeal Court in 2022.

In his defence, Ragoo denied raping the teenager or having sex with her but said they lived together from time to time and their relationship was accepted by her parents.

He alleged she was violent towards him when he spoke about rekindling his relationship with his ex-wife.

Although he was unsuccessful in his complaint about his trial attorney, Ragoo was successful with five other complaints.

At his appeal, Ragoo was represented by Pamela Elder, SC, and Russell Warner while deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Sabrina Dougdeen-Jaglal represented the State.