A high court has ordered the state to compensate nine men TT$2.1 million (One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents) each after they were acquitted of the murder of businesswoman Vindra Naipaul-Coolman in 2016.
Naipaul-Coolman, 52, the former chief executive of the supermarket chain, Naipaul’s Xtra Foods, was kidnapped from the driveway of her residence in Lange Park, Chaguanas in west central Trinidad, on the night of December 19, 2016. Her body was never found. Her kidnappers demanded a three million dollar ransom for her release.
The High Court Master, Martha Alexander, Monday awarded TT$19,168,917.56 for malicious prosecution and exemplary damages; costs amounting to $200,917.56; and the cost of an expert witness of $68,000, making it perhaps the largest award in Trinidad and Tobago’s judicial history.
Interest will be added to the damages for each man, at a rate of 2.5 percent, from May 29, 2020, to January 30 this year.
“Persons plucked out of society and thrown into a maelstrom where they are incarcerated for nine years on questionable evidence should not be expected to adjust, survive or thrive in abysmal prison conditions such as to justify ‘tapering off’ compensatory awards,” Master Alexander said in her ruling.
The nine men – Shervon Peters, Devon Peters, Anthony Gloster, Joel Fraser, Ronald Armstrong, Keida Garcia, Jameel Garcia, Marlon Trimmingham and Antonio Charles – were among ten persons who had gone on trial in 2016 for Naipaul-Coolman’s murder.
Eight were acquitted and one released after the trial judge upheld a no-case submission.
But two men – Earl “Bobo” Trimmingham and Lyndon “Iron” James – were ordered to be re-tried while Allan “Scanny” Martin, who was also on trial, was killed in 2016 during an escape attempt from the Frederick Street prison in Port of Spain.
In October 2021, Gloster was killed in a drive-by shooting in Diego Martin.
The nine men had filed a malicious prosecution claim in May 2020 which the State did not defend, despite having entered an appearance. They were represented by a team of lawyers including former attorney general, Anand Ramlogan, SC.
In a statement Tuesday, the Office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs said it “has ordered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the State’s failure to file a defense in (the) civil action claiming malicious prosecution” brought by the nine men.
The office said a news conference will be held on Wednesday where the matter will be addressed.
In July 2021, Justice Joan Charles entered judgment in their favor and sent the matter to a master for assessment and during the assessment testimony was heard from expert witness, clinical psychologist Isolde Ali Ghent-Garcia, on the effect nine years of incarceration had on them.
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