Trinidad and Tobago’s Court of Appeal has denied Jamaican-born King’s Counsel Vincent Nelson permission to approach the London-based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in a bid to challenge his 2019 corruption conviction.
The Court of Appeal refused Nelson’s application for conditional leave, agreeing with the state that the matter was procedural and raised no issue warranting consideration by the Privy Council, which is Trinidad and Tobago’s highest and final court.
Justice Nolan Bereaux, delivering the oral ruling on behalf of Justices James Aboud and Ricky Rahim, said the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions to prosecute did not breach Nelson’s constitutional rights and that due process safeguards were fully observed during the plea agreement process.
The court found that Nelson’s application was not a final appeal against his conviction and sentence, but rather a request for permission to pursue one.
The ruling follows a July decision in which Bereaux, Aboud and Justice of Appeal Geoffrey Henderson held that Nelson failed to establish misconduct by the DPP and had waited too long to file his appeal. Henderson said at the time that Nelson, a UK-based tax attorney, voluntarily entered a plea agreement in 2019 and had ample opportunity to disclose any alleged promises or threats to the trial judge.
The Court of Appeal also noted that Nelson was represented by senior counsel throughout the proceedings and raised no concerns about improper inducements.
Nelson pleaded guilty in June 2019 to conspiracy to commit corruption and money laundering arising from a legal-fee kickback scheme. He was fined TT$2.25 million in March 2020 after agreeing to testify against former attorney general Anand Ramlogan and former government senator Gerald Ramdeen.
Those prosecutions were discontinued in 2022 after Nelson refused to testify until a TT$95 million civil claim linked to an alleged indemnity agreement was resolved. That claim was later dismissed by the High Court and has since been appealed by Nelson.
In seeking permission to appeal, Nelson argued that former attorney general Faris Al-Rawi promised him immunity, a pardon and payment of legal fees, and that he provided a self-incriminating statement believing he was protected.
However, Justice Henderson said Nelson failed to support those claims with sworn evidence from the attorney who allegedly conveyed the promises, and that the record showed Nelson acted voluntarily throughout the plea process.
On the issue of delay, the court found Nelson’s October 2023 appeal was filed more than four years after his conviction and more than three years after sentencing. Henderson rejected explanations offered by Nelson, including illness and an expectation of a pardon, describing them as insufficient to justify the delay.
Nelson’s notice of appeal was filed nearly five years after the 14-day deadline. His legal team, led by King’s Counsel Edward Fitzgerald, argued that the delay resulted from alleged state misconduct surrounding the plea agreement.
Justice of Appeal Mark Mohammed had dismissed an earlier application last year, prompting Nelson’s renewed bid before the three-judge panel.
During arguments, Fitzgerald told the court that Nelson acted as a confidential informant and only provided a self-incriminating statement after assurances of immunity, a pardon and payment of outstanding fees.
“Why would he put his head in a noose unless he believed he was protected?” Fitzgerald asked, noting that Nelson received one million pounds (TT$8.99 million) days after giving the statement.
He said Nelson was “tricked,” adding: “It may have been a false promise…an overreach, but we say that a promise was made.”
Senior Counsel Ian Benjamin, representing the DPP, countered that Nelson was a seasoned barrister who knowingly entered the plea agreement and delayed challenging it for strategic reasons.
“He wanted leverage, a ‘strong bargaining position,’” Benjamin said, describing Nelson’s affidavit as contradictory and self-serving.
Benjamin also argued that prosecutorial authority rests solely with the DPP and that pardons may only be granted by the Mercy Committee, not the attorney general. Nelson has not yet paid the TT$2.25 million fine imposed by the court.
