The passport forgery trial of suspended Superintendent of Police Ray John andformer passport worker Shakema Charles has taken a new turn. Yesterday, defence attorneys Hugh Marshall and Michael Archibald filed a ‘no case’ submission after the prosecution’s final witness testimony.
The trial, presided over by Justice Tunde Bakre, has been adjourned until February 27 to allow for a review of the submission.
On Tuesday, defence attorneys Marshall and Archibald both objected to the reading of statements made by two witnesses who were not present to testify, but Justice Bakre overruled their objections.
The two lawyers filed the no case submission on Wednesday.
Justice Bakre decided to review the latter before proceeding with the case.
The trial was suspended during the reading of evidence about the content of a mobile phone examined by the Regional Security Services (RSS).
This occurred during the testimony of Barbadian police officer Candacy Maynard, who had examined the electronic device belonging to Lonzel Jones, an alleged co-conspirator in the case.
Another alleged co-conspirator, Geraldo James, was expected to be called as a witness along with Jones, but he refused to appear before the court.
However, Justice Bakre allowed the statements of the two Vincentians to be read as evidence.
The evidence seemingly weakened the defence’s case against John and his co-accused Charles.
The pair are accused of conspiring with the Vincentians to forge passport bio pages between January 1 and April 7 2018, using unauthorised Multi-Layered Infilling Sheets.
Charles is alleged to have conspired with John, who is said to have received 16 passport sheets to create forged documents.
Sergeant Verlica Chattam, the investigator who recorded statements from Jones and James in St Vincent, testified in open court that Jones was allegedly contacted by the embattled police officer to create documents for land purchases.
Jones claimed he received materials from John’s mother and bought a printer with money provided by John to create the forged documents.
James, in a statement recorded on April 26 2018, explained that on the night before the incident his uncle, John, asked him to collect documents from Jones.
James arranged to meet Jones near the Argyle International Airport but as soon as he collected the envelope he was intercepted by the police. In his statement, James told police that he was unaware that the envelope contained illegal items.
Neither James nor Jones has been charged in relation to the alleged crime.
