Another murder case fails; state witnesses get "amnesia"

Two key prosecution witnesses who refused to cooperate, citing forgetfulness, caused another murder case to collapse in the High court Thursday. And the judge in the case, Mark Mohammed expressed deep concern with the frequency with which this is happening in the judicial system.

Mohammed warned that if this doesn't stop Trinidad and Tobago would go down bnthe road of becoming a failed state.

"The very fabric of our society is being eroded as a consequence. Viewed objectively, there can be no issue of greater importance on the national agenda; absolutely none. If left unabated. Trinidad and Tobago may well find itself on an inexorable path to becoming a failed state," the judge told the court.

Mohammed expressed his strong views after the two witnesses in the murder trial of a URP foreman changed their testimony and told the court they did not know the person who committed the crime on the Brian Lara Grounds in Santa Cruz in 2005.

They both claimed that they had no recollection of the murder, although they had given earlier evidence for a strong case against the accused.

As a result,Steffon Brown and Saddique Mohammed now face possible charges of contempt, perjury, perverting the course of public justice, and wasting the police time.

In another recent case two teenaged accused killers walked free after the main prosecution witness went into hiding, saying he feared he might be killed if he testified. The judge in that case, Anthony Carmona, expressed deep frustration with the system.

Read the story: Murder accused walk free

Justice Mohammed said it is time for the authorities to find solutions to this continuing problem and offered some of his own suggestions on how this could be done.

They include measures to ensure that the rights of witnesses are at all times protected. In addition the judge suggested better forensic investigation using modern policing methods such as DNA and the use of electronic recordings of interrogations.

Mohammed also commented on the jury system, noting that jurors need to be better educated and sensitized about their roles in the criminal justice system in order to restore and maintain public confidence in it.

He said the Judiciary is fully committed "to performing its prescribed constitutional role, but all institutional players need to step up to the plate.”