East POS arrests- 59 of 101 arrested freed

[redmanjp]

without sufficient intel, use of technology, DNA, phone tapping, etc. we only spinning top in mud

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/BACK--OUT-220288731.html

BACK OUT

59 arrested in police sweep released from custody without charges
By Jensen LaVende jensen.lavende@trinidadexpress.com

Story Created: Aug 19, 2013 at 10:01 PM ECT

Story Updated: Aug 20, 2013 at 11:21 AM ECT

Fifty-nine of the 101 people arrested in East Port of Spain from last Thursday to Sunday have been freed without being charged.

Among them are two high-profile alleged gang members—Anthon Boney and Cedric “Burkey” Burke.

In a show of force on Sunday, over 300 lawmen swooped down in the East Port of Spain area and arrested 89 people in the aftermath of four murders in the area mere days before.

More than half of them were back out on the streets yesterday, police said.

According to police reports, of the 89, 47 were released and 26 appeared in court yesterday. Of that 26, 22 were brought to court on outstanding warrants, three on narcotics and one for illegally occupying a Housing Development Corporation (HDC) apartment.

The remaining 16 are still in police custody, 13 are to be placed on identification parades today for robberies and shootings while three are being questioned for murder.

The three on narcotics charges are Merlin Roberts, Ria Durity and Alana Villafana.

Roberts was placed on a bond for two years and in default would face 30 days hard labour or a $1,200 fine.

Roberts had 5.8 grammes of marijuana. Durity had one gramme of marijuana and was ordered to serve 80 hours of community service. For failure to do so, she would be fined $500 or spend 30 days in prison.

Villafana was ordered to serve 100 hours of community service for the 17 grammes of marijuana she had. Villafana would spend six months in jail should she fail to complete the community service or be fined $700.

The 89 were held days after two teenage cousins were shot dead on Duncan Street, Port of Spain. Since then there has been a heavy police and army presence in the area.

The cousins, Nyam Antoine and Rasheeda Gomez, were both killed by gunmen mere hours apart on August 14. Gomez was pregnant.

Antoine, 16, who suffered from sickle-cell anaemia, was dragged from his grandmother’s Duncan Street apartment and fatally shot 34 times. He was buried yesterday.

Last Thursday, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar visited the area and told residents a police/army post would be placed in the area to protect the residents from the gunmen who seek to throw them out of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) apartments.

Following the killing, some 12 men were arrested. They were said to be gang members and or leaders and were allegedly responsible for the cousins’ deaths as warring gangs fought to be in control of State contracts.

By 7 a.m. yesterday, all 12 were freed.

Defence attorney Criston Williams yesterday filed a writ of habeas corpus to have his client, Anthon Boney, who was arrested with the lot, brought to court for the State to show why he had been detained.

Williams was successful in getting the police to release his client after he wrote to acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams and Attorney General Anand Ramlogan informing them that they must come to court (yesterday) to state why his client was being held.

According to the letter, (Criston) Williams stated: “Pursuant to Section 13 (1) of the Anti Gang Act, I hereby demand the immediate release of Mr Boney who has been detained for a period exceeding 72 hours.

“To date, my client has not been charged and has not been informed of any steps that have been taken by the State to lawfully continue his detention.

“I have been instructed that should my client not be released within one hour of receipt of this correspondence I have advised my client to commence ex parte proceedings to challenge the actions of the State and to compel the State to produce the body of my client to the High Court and there state the reasons for his continued detention.

“Should you fail so to do by 12 p.m. today (yesterday) I shall petition the Registrar of the High Court to convene a sitting of the emergency judge on duty and seek an order compelling you to perform your function.”

The habeas corpus was sent to the commissioner on Sunday night, the Express was informed, and by 7 a.m. yesterday Boney, the last to be released, was allowed to walk out of the Belmont Police Station.

[[X]~Outlaw]

I expected this

[redmanjp]

another thing is i believe T&T have very good defense lawyers but no good prosecutors at all- so whatever lil piece ah evidence dey bringing the defence lawyers shooting it down one time

[pete]

Don't know how lawyers could sleep at night knowing they beat the system only to let murderers go free.

[Hot Rod]

......... and countin ....m

[Dizzy28]

Don't know how lawyers could sleep at night knowing they beat the system only to let murderers go free.

When you sleep on Pillows full of blues apparently you does sleep well.

[pete]

Till one that another lawyer got off on a technicality shoots someone in your family to steal their vehicle or jewelry etc.

[redmanjp]

who say d 42 others go be out by tomorrow?

[pioneer]

Prosecution lawyers are public servants...what can we expect

[redmanjp]

Prosecution lawyers are public servants...what can we expect

so how about they get paid only when they win d case?

[pete]

Then they won't have any prosecution lawyers.

[pioneer]

Now I have to put my money in my socks again

sigh.jpg

[doo-bee-dan]

Now I have to put my money in my socks again

sigh.jpg

[janfar]

‘BLIND’ COPS

Sgt Seales: We’re on fact-finding mission

By Joel Julien joel.julien@triniddexpress.com



Story Created: Aug 20, 2013 at 10:09 PM ECT
(
Story Updated: Aug 21, 2013 at 12:18 AM ECT )


ONLY a “blind” Police Service would arrest a man for the same crime twice in two years and still not have any evidence to ensure proper charges can be laid.

So said Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley yesterday, in response to the fact that 59 out of 101 people arrested in East Port of Spain from last Thursday to Sunday have been freed without being charged.

Among the high-profile arrests last Thursday were suspected gang members 38-year-old Cedric “Burkey” Burke and Anthon Boney.

Burke was released on Sunday.

In August 2011, Burke was arrested at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Port of Spain and charged under the Anti-Gang Act during the state of emergency (SOE).

He was eventually released due to lack of evidence.

Attorney Criston Williams on Monday filed a writ of habeas corpus to have his client Boney who was arrested and held at the Belmont Police Station with the lot brought to court for the State to show why he had been detained.

Williams was successful in forcing the police to release his client after he wrote to acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams and Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, informing them they must come to court on Monday (August 19) to state why his client was being held. Boney was then freed.

“What this Government stands guilty of is dismantling the information-gathering system and the Police Service is virtually blind,” Rowley said.

“It is only a blind Police Service would go and pick up the same man you picked up the last time (during the 2011 state of emergency). You have no additional or new evidence, you pick him up again and some unknown lawyer within five minutes threatens you with a writ of habeas corpus and you have to release all you picked up,” he said.

Rowley was speaking as the People’s National Movement (PNM) embarked on a walkabout in the St Joseph area.

He said the fact that people would be arrested and released because of lack of evidence twice in two years was “worrying” and “surprising”. “What you saw in east Port of Spain this week is the same thing, but on a grander stage than occurred during the state of emergency, where you invade and retreat,” Rowley said.

“Interestingly enough, some of the same people that were picked up in the state of emergency were picked up again in a similar manner and released without charge, and that worries me because it tells me that we made no progress with respect to crime detection or gathering information to be used as evidence,” he said.

“I was quite surprised you could know who to pick up a year after you pick them up without evidence, you picked them up again and get an identical situation. That means we made no progress with information gathering, with evidence being collected to get a charge, far less a conviction, and what this should tell us is that the Government must admit that the systems have been failing and therefore we do not have the option to conclude that we cannot solve the problems in front of us,” Rowley said.

Rowley said he expects his meeting with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar tomorrow to be “useful”.

He, however, described the call for the return of the death penalty as “political gimmickry”.

“The death penalty comes at the end of the process. There is nothing now preventing the Government from proceeding to carry out the death penalty within the context of the laws that we have and the dictates laid down by our final court of appeal,” Rowley said.

“What is absent is not the death penalty, what is absent is crime detection because if you don’t detect who is doing the crime, you wouldn’t be able to charge anybody. If you don’t charge anybody, then you cannot get a conviction against anybody. If you don’t get a conviction, then you can’t get a sentence against anybody; and until you get a sentence, there is no issue of the death penal­ty,” he said.


http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/BLI ... 44701.html

Rowley could not have been more correct.

Cue, 'buh pee enn emm din do nuhtin when dem de day in powah'

[shogun]

Well Yes...


[sarcasm]Who for SOE, The Sequel??[/sarcasm]

[rfari]

Two things come to mind
1. Police dont go by mother cornhucks or other obeah people to get 'guidance' to solve crimes and ting like long time?

2. Police stop planting evidence on ppl orwha?

[rfari]

Now hearing tht kamla and the krew going to meet with the residents of duncan street. This gorn be good

[rfari]

Now entering the capital. Srs looking operation going in east beetham. 2 birds circling overhead keeping an eye on things

[zoom rader]

^^^ where u was , you got released too ? this the second time she meet them bai

[rfari]

^^^ where u was , you got released too ? this the second time she meet them bai

I was on the highway. Released from what? Yup. Second time. First time she tears out. Crocodile tears

[Keyser Soze]

"Fact Finding mission".....
people really don't understand the level of informing that goes on when so called gangsters are apprehended and desperate for freedom yes....
look out for results from this soon....

[zoom rader]

^^^ where u was , you got released too ? this the second time she meet them bai

I was on the highway. Released from what? Yup. Second time. First time she tears out. Crocodile tears

I say dey hold u as a gang member then release u

[RASC]

"Fact Finding mission".....
people really don't understand the level of informing that goes on when so called gangsters are apprehended and desperate for freedom yes....
look out for results from this soon....

One can only hope...
PNM silence is deafening.
They need to make another sweep! Beetham or even Arima next.

[rfari]

^^^ where u was , you got released too ? this the second time she meet them bai

I was on the highway. Released from what? Yup. Second time. First time she tears out. Crocodile tears

I say dey hold u as a gang member then release u

But im not a gang member tho :/

[pete]

"Fact Finding mission".....
people really don't understand the level of informing that goes on when so called gangsters are apprehended and desperate for freedom yes....
look out for results from this soon....

One can only hope...
PNM silence is deafening.
They need to make another sweep! Beetham or even Arima next.

Have something going on in the beetham now.

[K74T]

Extermination?

[pioneer]

Man from beetham kissin dirt normel normel

[dougla_boy]

Don't know how lawyers could sleep at night knowing they beat the system only to let murderers go free.

[RASC]

Man from beetham kissin dirt normel normel

PNM abroad real silent on the issue as normal.
Their admin promotes and perpetuates the talk nah mentality and is an embarrassment to the PNM.

Have you not seen how many attacks on the middle class they have had as of late. Police raiding east P.O.S now and the convo could barely cross 15 replys.

Yet if they start a convo on gossip and jack warner... watch and see.

[dougla_boy]

^^^ where u was , you got released too ? this the second time she meet them bai

I was on the highway. Released from what? Yup. Second time. First time she tears out. Crocodile tears

I say dey hold u as a gang member then release u

But im not a gang member tho :/

tawt u was head ah d train line?