According to reports, prosecutors will not appear in court for the rest of the week because they are devastated by the heinous murder of their colleague Randall Hector.
Consequently, the Supreme Courts of Port of Spain, San Fernando, and Tobago have postponed jury selection for January 6.
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Jurors were notified that their January 3, 2024, appearance had been delayed to January 6.
The Chief Justice was notified in writing by Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard, SC, that his prosecutors would not be in court for the week due to Hector’s murder on December 31.
It is also claimed that prosecutors fear for their safety.
Hector and his family were shot while they were leaving the Seventh-Day Adventist Church on Stanmore Avenue in Port of Spain. He was a church pastor who had previously given the sermon on New Year’s Eve.
On January 3, 2024, Gaspard is scheduled to meet with his team of prosecutors.
On January 2, 2024, a request for more protection for prosecutors and judges in the criminal court system was submitted.
Hector was murdered the day after a state of emergency was proclaimed in response to rising gang-related violence, prompting the Law Association (LATT) to issue the call.
Prosecutors voiced their worries in 2023 about a plan to transfer the DPP’s office from Richmond Street to the Port of Spain intersection of Park and Henry Streets.
They cited a police report that cautioned against the action.
The report noted, “Given the fact that the Special Branch Unit is specialized in the assessment of a range of security threats for executives, including the President, and our knowledge of the location of that building, we, the attorneys, are unwilling to occupy the Park Court Building, where we are likely to be the subjects of criminal attacks.”
The report continues, “This is especially so as many of us have already suffered the trauma of perilous encounters with accused persons, their associates, and families.”
Following the Prime Minister’s criticism at a public gathering that the State had provided the DPP with resources, including the Park Court facility, but that it had not been used, they were concerned.
The $24 million, six-story edifice was ceremoniously turned over to the National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco) in 2020. Floors were set aside for the executive secretariat of the DPP, processing units, administrative and support units, indictment units, and vault usage units. It costs about $7 million a year to lease.
The Special Branch’s security concerns delayed the building’s occupancy. Despite being renovated, it was never used.
Attorney General Reginald Armour said in October that the state will purchase the empty First Citizens building on St. Vincent Street in Port of Spain to use as the Office of the DPP’s new headquarters.
According to Armour, almost $3 million has been set aside for the building’s furnishing and readiness for usage.
Armour explained, “The figure of $3.130 million has to do with funds allocated for the accommodation for the DPP in Port of Spain. That is going to go to the outfitting of the building, because after purchase that building will have to be outfitted for the accommodation.”
