AT the end of March, 78 people on murder charges had filed applications for bail, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard, SC, said in a recent affidavit for the State supporting an application for a stay at the Privy Council.
In March, the State received final leave to challenge the ruling of the Appeal Court which paved the way for anyone charged with murder to apply for bail, for the first time in over a century.
A previous application for a stay in the local courts had been denied.
On April 4, Gaspard said his office did not have a full complement of staff and of his three deputy directors, he had to assign two to the Port of Spain and San Fernando High Courts to deal with bail applications for murder charges alone.
“I consider this to be necessary since these applications are unique in that as far as I am aware bail has not been applied for or granted to any person charged with murder since I have been in the Director of Public Prosecutions' Office.”
This strategy, he admitted, has now led to a backlog of matters which “require urgent attention and which cannot be attended to because of the ruling of the Court of Appeal.”
Gaspard said of the 78 bail applications filed up to March 31, some were made orally during case-management conferences before a Master in chambers.
“These applications come as a complete surprise to the prosecution who are unable to attend to assist the court at short notice.
“So far, six applications for bail from persons charged with murder have been heard by the Masters. In one case, that of Joel King, bail was granted.”
On March 25, Master Nalini Singh granted King bail of $1.5 million. She held the State had failed to show why King should remain in custody, and imposed 21 conditions for bail.
King, also called Joel Grimes and Catty, was committed to stand trial for a 2014 murder in Belmont. He is yet to access bail, and the DPP’s Office has since appealed Singh’s ruling. Newsday understands the hearing of the appeal is set for Friday.
In his affidavit, Gaspard said there were no rules that governed the procedure by which an application for bail can be made in Trinidad and Tobago, but said it is considered a matter that should be heard urgently.
He said his office had a close collaborative relationship with the Criminal Records Office (CRO) of the police service, but that department has been unable to provide the information necessary to process bail applications urgently.
He said each bail application, particularly murder, required close attention to detail.
“The Office of the DPP is thus unable to handle these applications on an urgent basis. This position is particularly exacerbated by the absence of jury trials for more than two years. Furthermore, there are ten Criminal Masters.”
Gaspard said deputy DPP George Busby told him Masters have at least two hearings aweek and that some ten-15 matters are listed on each occasion, 50 per cent of which are bail applications from people charged with murder.
“This has characterised proceedings since
