Volney explains his ruling in Brad Boyce case

Former High Court Judge Herbert Volney told the Trinidad Express Tuesday people should read his judgment to understand why he asked a jury to return a not guilty verdict against murder accused Brad Boyce in 1998.

The Boyce issue came up Monday night when a group of protesters showed up while Volney was making his maiden political speech in St Joseph. The demonstrators carried placards demanding that Volney explain his ruling.

Volney told the paper the State had failed to prove that Boyce's alleged victim died from an injury inflicted by Boyce. "The guy died not from the injuries sustained but from broncho-pneumonia," he said.

He added that nurses had put a feeding tube down the man's his lungs and food went down into his lungs.

"They placed him on a ventilator and the ventilator malfunctioned. And the State had to prove that it was not medical negligence on the part of the San Fernando Hospital that had been the substantial cause of death. And the State failed to do so. So I upheld the submission of no case," he said.

Volney said people easily jump to conclusions without understanding the law. He stated that the State lost the case on appeal and did not order a retrial but went to the Privy Council where it lost again.

He told the Express, "The system has three layers and I was just the first. I can’t be blamed for the eventual so-called travesty of justice. There are two courts of review after me. Why don’t they blame the other courts including the Court of Appeal in which three judges reviewed my decision?"

He said people are trying to blame him for the matter because it is politically expedient to do.

Volney said he commented at Monday's meeting on the Narayansingh murder case because that matter is now "dead" and is not "sub judice" and also because he knew what happened behind the scenes "because it was quite clear from the evidence."

Volney told the Express he plans to talk on crime, good governance, the criminal justice system and law and order issues.

He suggested that the police would likely be able to better deal with a protest like the one on Monday night if it happens again.

"I think that the police did not know the election law and they felt that they could not have acted as they ought to have. But what happened there is conduct that is likely to result in a breach of peace. Because it almost come to that," he said.