Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 21/Nov 17:59

Man accused of shooting at cops, robbing watchman discharged

A man who was charged with robbery with violence, firearm possession, and shooting with intent in a 2016 incident along Soogrim Trace, Chaguanas, which led to a shootout with police, was discharged after prosecutors failed to comply with a High Court scheduling order. Master Delicia Bethelmy discharged Ron Marchan on November 21, which was supposed to be the start of the sufficiency hearing after defence attorney Bhimal Maharajh asked for the matter to be dismissed under the Criminal Procedure Rules, which allow for a discharge for non-compliance. In February, Bethelmy had ordered police to submit the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) by March 19, with the filing of an indictment, witness statements and other documentary evidence due on June 27 and defence responses by July 25. Submissions were to follow in October, ahead of the sufficiency hearing. At the November 21 hearing, Maharajh argued that the State’s failure to meet the deadlines was “unfair and unjust” to the accused. Bethelmy found that the State did not meet the deadlines of the scheduling order and discharged Marchan. Police had accused Marchan of taking part in a February 10, 2016, attack at Seecharan Used Cars along the Uriah Butler Highway in Charlieville, Chaguanas, where a watchman was allegedly dragged from a vehicle, beaten by four men and tied up and sprayed with a liquid in his eyes. Officers later found him bound on the floor after an anonymous caller alerted the Chaguanas Police Station. The attackers fled in a black Nissan Almera, leading to a high-speed chase along Soogrim Trace, and the car later crashed into an embankment where the suspects allegedly opened fire at officers who attempted to stop them. Police said one suspect, described as a known gang member, was shot in the exchange and later died. His three accomplices escaped across the highway. A pistol was recovered at the scene. Marchan was arrested one week later, on February 17, 2016, and the case was first brought in the magistrates’ court before being transferred to the High Court under the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Act. After Marchan was discharged, a police prosecutor placed on record that the complainant had complied with the portion of the order requiring the file to be sent to the DPP. The post Man accused of shooting at cops, robbing watchman discharged appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.