Cadet Officer Franz Paul, who is charged with shooting 15-year-old Alex Griffith in the mouth during a game of Russian roulette, was yesterday cleared of a charge of perverting the course of justice due to insufficient evidence.
His co-accused, Corporal Bachan Singh, was also cleared of the charge.
At the conclusion of the trial, Magistrate Ann McLennan, who presided over the matter at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court Two, announced that the charge against the two men was being dismissed on grounds of insufficiency of evidence.
The court had noted that the testimony of witnesses was too weak to substantiate the charge and as a result it was unable to stand in court.
Paul and Singh had pleaded not guilty to the charge and were each granted $150,000 bail after their arraignment before Magistrate Fabayo Azore on June 9 last year. It was alleged that Paul, while under close arrest during the investigation of the shooting, had contacted Singh, who visited him at the Mahaica Police Station and presented him with a firearm and ammunition book to allow him to alter the records.
Some eight witnesses testified during the trial, which was prosecuted by Deniro Jones.
Apart from the charge of perverting the course of justice, Paul alone is charged with discharging a loaded firearm at the teen with intent to maim, disfigure or cause bodily harm.
He was also charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm on him as well as with assaulting him.
He had pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
A separate trial was conducted for the charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice after the April 30, 2014 shooting of Griffith.
Sandil Kissoon, attorney for Singh, had successfully petitioned Magistrate Azore to have his client’s case tried separately from Paul’s other charges.
He had argued that the joint hearing could unconsciously influence Singh’s matter, which he described as independent and relating only to evidence in a station diary.
Paul was represented by attorney Roger Yearwood.
The other matters for which Paul is charged are before Magistrate Azore for trial.
At the time of the alleged shooting, Paul was said to have been personally investigating a robbery committed on his sister. Griffith, who the police believed was a witness to the robbery, was picked up for questioning.
Griffith had told Stabroek News that he had been at a friend’s home when a robbery occurred outside. Though he had been unable to see what had transpired, he said, two van-loads of policemen later went to his East La Penitence Squatting area home to question him about the identities of the robbers.
He said he told the ranks that he was unaware of the robbers’ identities but was still taken from his home, placed in one of the vehicles and driven around the area.
He said the vehicle eventually stopped in front of the home of one of the suspected robbers in the East La Penitence area.
However, the person was not at home. He alleged that Paul forced him from the police vehicle and ordered him to lie on the ground, where in an effort to glean information, he played Russian roulette.
Griffith was shot in the mouth and subsequently dropped off at the hospital by the ranks who left shortly afterwards.
