Senior Reporter
The Court of Appeal has ordered a retrial for two east Trinidad brothers convicted of murdering a man and attempting to murder his brother and cousin after allegedly forcing the three men to help process a marijuana harvest.
John and Victor Flores were convicted of murder, two counts of attempted murder, and firearm and ammunition possession at the conclusion of their judge-alone trial in 2022.
When their appeal was heard in September 2024, then Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), now High Court Judge, Sabrina Dougdeen-Jaglal, conceded that the trial judge had erred in rejecting the brothers’ alibi defences.
Dougdeen-Jaglal argued that the judge could only have relied on the rejected alibis as evidence of guilt if there was proof they had been deliberately fabricated.
She maintained that while the judge was entitled to reject the alibis, there was no evidence that the brothers had wilfully concocted them.
In a judgment delivered late last week, Chief Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh and Justices of Appeal Maria Wilson and Geoffrey Henderson agreed.
“False alibis are not capable of supporting the prosecution’s case. There is no admission on the part of the appellants that they lied,” Justice Wilson said in the court’s ruling.
She concluded that the convictions were unsafe because of the trial judge’s error.
“I note that the errors made by the trial judge were fundamental and undermined the main defence for the appellants, that of alibi, and thus amounted to a material irregularity,” Justice Wilson said.
She noted that while the impact of such an error might have been difficult to assess in a jury trial, it was easier to determine in a judge-alone trial.
“One cannot be certain if a trial judge would have come to the same conclusion if he/she properly directed themselves on the issue of alibi,” she said.
In deciding to order a retrial rather than acquit the brothers, Justice Wilson noted that the State’s case remained strong and that the prosecution’s witnesses were still available to testify. She also pointed out that the brothers could apply for bail pending the retrial.
Justice Wilson further acknowledged that the brothers have been facing the allegations since 2010.
“This is not just an ordeal for the appellants but for victims, the families of the victims and all the witnesses in the matter. There is no closure for anyone involved in the matter,” she said.
However, she criticised the lengthy delays that typically follow retrial orders, noting that it often takes an average of four years before a retrial begins.
Describing the delay as unacceptable, Justice Wilson called on all stakeholders in the criminal justice system to work together to address the problem.
“It requires an ‘all hands-on deck’ approach. No one arm of the criminal justice system is responsible for this state of affairs. It is pointless pointing fingers and assigning blame,” she said.
“Like a body that cannot function effectively when one part is injured or missing, so too it is with the administration of the justice system,” she added.
Justice Henderson, who previously served as Director of Public Prosecutions, delivered a concurring judgment explaining why he also believed a retrial was appropriate.
The brothers are accused of murdering Seecharan Sankar and attempting to murder Sankar’s brother, Doodnath, also known as Anil, and their cousin, Rohan “Johnny” Ramnarine, on May 24, 2010.
During the original trial, Doodnath and Ramnarine testified that they and Sankar had left their home in Charuma Village, Biche, to harvest green bananas from Ramnarine’s nearby garden.
Doodnath said they were confronted by the Flores brothers, who were armed with shotguns.
According to his evidence, the brothers ordered them to drop their cutlasses and told them they intended to kill Ramnarine to send a message to his brother, who was in prison at the time.
He testified that they were forced to hike through a forested area and three marijuana fields before arriving at a campsite on the peak of a small mountain.
Doodnath claimed they were forced to trim dried marijuana flowers for almost two hours before John Flores used Ramnarine’s cellphone to make a call.
He said the phone was on speaker and he recognised the voice on the other end as another villager, Alton.
According to Doodnath, the brothers told the caller that they had abducted Ramnarine and his two cousins.
He testified that despite repeated pleas for mercy, the caller allegedly responded that he and his brother were simply “in the right place at the wrong time.”
Doodnath said one of the brothers then shot Ramnarine in the chest before turning the gun on Sankar, shooting him in the back.
The other brother allegedly fired at Doodnath, grazing the side of his head.
Doodnath testified that he jumped off a cliff in an attempt to escape.
After reaching the bottom, he found Ramnarine, who had apparently also jumped after being shot.
He said he helped Ramnarine, who was bleeding from his chest and mouth, to a nearby river, and the two followed the river until they reached the village, where they alerted relatives and police.
The Flores brothers were arrested days later. One was detained while travelling in a taxi to Mayaro, and a shotgun later identified through ballistic testing as the murder weapon was found in his possession.
The brothers denied the allegations and relied on alibi defences. John Flores claimed he had travelled to a relative’s home in Maracas, St Joseph, to borrow money, while Victor Flores said he had been cutting grass at another relative’s property in Mayaro.
Victor Flores was represented by attorneys Shane Patience and Darryl Douglas, while John Flores was represented by Delicia Helwig-Robertson and Whitney Franklin.
