Man acquitted of 2014 murder after a decade on remand

After spending ten years in remand for a 2014 murder, Kareem Halls walked free on January 22 after a High Court judge upheld a no-case submission, citing the unreliability of the State’s evidence.

Halls, of Port of Spain, was overcome with gratitude as he reunited with his family outside the Hall of Justice, Port of Spain.

Reflecting on the long wait for justice, he said, “I see like the system is changing... The system is a little slow, but it's changing up.”

Halls was accused of the October 24, 2014, murder of Kadeem Sawyer in Tunapuna. Sawyer was shot and killed by two men while seated along the Eastern Main Road opposite the Tunapuna market.

The State's primary witness, a police officer, claimed he saw two armed men exiting a car near the scene. However, Halls' attorneys, Kelson Pope and Dr Jens-Ulrich Poppen, successfully argued that the officer’s identification of Halls was unreliable and unsupported by other evidence.

The case largely relied on the testimony of PC Kershen Rose, who said he saw two men exit a white Hyundai Elantra with heavily tinted windows before hearing gunshots. Rose admitted he did not see the men’s faces clearly, including Halls’.

Halls’ attorneys argued that this lack of a clear identification, compounded by the absence of scientific or corroborative evidence, posed a “significant risk of an unsafe conviction.”

They urged the court to withdraw the case to prevent a potential miscarriage of justice.

Justice Hayden St Clair-Douglas agreed, directing the jury to return a not-guilty verdict as he, too, was not satisfied with the quality of the identification evidence.

Speaking to the media after his release, Halls expressed gratitude for the opportunity to have his trial finally heard.

“I give thanks to God and to the system that I was selected to have my case started in 2025.

“Since last year, I was waiting for it to start, and I had patience. It has come to pass,” he said.

Halls also looked forward to reuniting with his family, including his two daughters. One was only three years old when he was arrested. “The hardest part was how hard it was for them,” he said. “I know it was probably two or three times harder on them.”