Police Corporal Sherwin Smith is to stand trial in the High Court for the September 15, 2011 murder of drug counsellor Ralph Turpin.
The preliminary inquiry (PI) into the matter, which was being heard before Magistrate Sueanna Lovell came to an end yesterday and she ruled that a prima facie case had been made out against him.
Smith was asked by the magistrate if he had wished to say anything and was warned that anything he said can be taken down as evidence.
Smith replied: “I am innocent of the offence and would like to let the court know that the case against me is a ‘cook-up’ to hide the true facts of the matter. As a result I will reserve my defence for the High Court.”
Magistrate Lovell told him that he has the right to call witnesses for his trial.
Ralph Turpin, 54, of Lot 25 Agriculture Road, Triumph, East Coast Deme-rara, had gone to the assistance of a woman who was being physically assaulted by a man when he was shot dead at a Stabroek Market food stand on September 15, 2011.
Turpin, the co-founder of the Infinity Rehabilitation Centre in Triumph, succumbed to two gunshot wounds to the head before he arrived at the Georgetown Public Hospital shortly after 4 am on September 15, 2011.
