Court rules trial unfair: Rajaee Ali freed of electricity-theft charge

ALLEGED gang leader Rajaee Ali has been successful in his complaint about the fairness of his trial on a 2013 charge of having an illegal electricity connection and the three-month custodial sentence a magistrate imposed in 2018.

Ali, who was committed in 2020 to stand trial for the May 2014 murder of former independent senator Dana Seetahal, SC, was given a three-month custodial sentence for the illegal electricity connection. It was quantified as his illegally receiving $600 worth of electricity.

Then-magistrate Gillian Scotland found Ali, of Carapo, guilty on May 14, 2018, in the Arima Court on May 24, 2013. Ali appealed his conviction and sentence, alleging he did not receive a fair trial.

On July 22, Justices of Appeal Prakash Moosai and Gillian Lucky upheld Ali’s appeal and set aside his conviction and sentence.

They did not order a retrial, agreeing with attorneys that the offence allegedly took place more than a decade ago and involved a small sum of money.

Lucky delivered the oral ruling at the Hall of Justice, Port of Spain.

Ali’s appeal turned on the peculiar circumstances in his case, Lucky said.

He had been in solitary confinement for close to a year when the trial started on May 8, 2017, so he was unable to meet with his attorney and give instructions. As the trial progressed, it was called 43 times and Ali was not brought to court on 19 occasions. This, Lucky said, affected the flow of the case.

During the trial, Ali was also made to cross-examine prosecution witnesses when his attorney was not present, despite explaining on several occasions he lacked the skill and knowledge.

“Despite his protestations, the magistrate pressed on,” Lucky said.

Adjournments were also sought, but were refused by the magistrate, to have Ali’s attorney present to question witnesses; for his defence witnesses to testify, since some were in prison; and for one of his new attorneys to prepare her closing address.

“Had the adjournment been granted, that attorney would have been in a position to assimilate all the evidence for the defence, highlighting any inconsistencies or inadequacies in the prosecution’s case,” Lucky added.

The judge noted, however, that if the magistrate had the benefit of the technology implemented in the courts in 2019, when the trial took place, she would have had more tools before her to ensure Ali was properly represented when evidence was taken.

“Unfortunately that was not the case and this appellant was deprived of a fair hearing.”

Ali’s other complaints focused on inadequacies in the prosecution’s evidence to establish which houses had an illegal electricity connection.

The magistrate was also faulted for glossing over some of the evidence or not providing detailed reasons for some of her findings, which Lucky said were some of the errors making the conviction unsafe.

Ali was charged after police executed a warrant at a house at Rose Drive, Carapo, on May 24, 2013. Nothing illegal was found but officers allegedly noticed wires connected directly to an electricity pole and certain appliances were plugged into electrical outlets on the premises.

The TT Electricity Commission (T&TEC) was summoned and Ali was later taken to the La Horquetta police station, where he was charged with fraudulently using/consuming electricity, contrary to the Larceny Act.

Before the trial started, the charge was amended to reduce the value of the charge from $15,375 to $608.65.

In April, Ali was ordered to face a new trial on a charge of possession of the carcass of a protected animal – a lappe – outside the hunting season.

In 2022, the Court of Appeal overturned a magistrate’s dismissal of a charge of driving without a certificate of insurance, making it the first conviction recorded against him. He was ordered to pay a $300 fine.

Ali was represented by Roshan Tota-Maharaj. Assistant DPP Danielle Thompson appeared for the State on July 22.