Man freed of 2021 Bon Air murder

AFTER spending over three years in prison awaiting trial for a crime he always maintained he did not commit, Marvin Williams walked free on May 1 after the State formally discontinued a murder case against him at the start of his trial in the High Court in Port of Spain.

Williams was charged in April 2022 for the murder of Secion Malchan, who was shot and killed in Bon Air on August 31, 2021. He also faced charges of shooting with intent and illegal possession of firearms.

His case, initially brought before the Arima Magistrates’ Court, was transferred to the High Court under the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Act (AJIPA), which is designed to fast-track serious criminal matters.

At a sufficiency hearing on January 13, public defender Adaphia Trancoso-Ribeiro made a no-case submission, pointing to the lack of direct evidence, his alibi statement, and the limitations in the State’s circumstantial case.

However, the Master ruled that Williams should stand trial, which was set to begin on May 1, before Justice Nalini Singh, one of five High Court judges assigned to AJIPA cases.

A day earlier, on April 30, the State’s main witness, who was 16 at the time of Malchan’s murder, retracted his earlier statement to police, admitting that he had falsely identified Williams as one of the masked shooters. On May 1, in the presence of the jury, prosecutors Norma Peters and Shanelle Kissoon announced they would discontinue the case. Justice Singh praised the State’s decision, noting the prosecution had acted responsibly given the weakened evidence.

Williams’s attorneys noted that he spent over three years waiting for justice, and during that time, his mother died, he lost his job and did not have contact with his children. They also pointed out that had it not been for the expedited timelines under AJIPA, Williams could have languished in custody for much longer.

His legal team also included public defender Laurina Ramkaran, and he left the Hall of Justice, Port of Spain, on Thursday, with his father and the hope of picking up the pieces of his life.

According to the evidence, Malchan’s sister had faced her brother’s masked shooter, whom she could not identify. The teenage State witness allegedly told police he recognised one of the men, identifying Williams. At the time, he claimed that shortly after the shooting, he ran through a track and hid when he saw two masked men in black, each with a gun. He later said he lied when he said he saw Williams on the night of the murder.