Retired Superintendent of Police Morgan Chalmers yesterday testified that he was unable to conduct an identification (ID) parade with Terrence Wallace, the accused in the murder of teenager Shaquille Grant, since the former policeman was advised against participation by his lawyer.
Chalmers was at the time testifying at the trial of Wallace, who is charged with murdering Grant, 17, at Caesar Street, Agricola, East Bank Demerara on September 11th, 2012.
Recalling the events of September 18th, 2012, Chalmers said that after receiving information regarding the murder, he contacted then Police Constable Wallace, Lance Corporal Warren Blue, Special Constable Jamal Lewis and five other policemen at the Brickdam Police Station.
He said he told the ranks, who were all uniformed, that he was conducting investigations into the death of Grant and that he would be placing them on an ID parade.
Chalmers said that after speaking to the men about the parade, Wallace told him that on the day of the shooting he was being videotaped and photographed by persons and that those images appeared in the news and on social media.
According to Chalmers, Wallace also related to him that on September 17th, while at the Tactical Services Unit, Eve Leary, he was pointed out to attorneys Nigel Hughes and James Bond as well as activist Mark Benschop. As a result, he said the accused told him that he had been advised by his lawyer not to attend the ID parade. Chalmers said that Blue, Lewis and the other policemen had also given statements about being photographed and videotaped and that their attorneys had also told them not to attend the parade. The witness said that as a result of what the lawmen had related to him, he could not conduct the parade.
Romel Bollers, one of Grant’s friends who was also shot on the day of the teen’s death, had previously testified that on September 17th, 2012, in the company of Hughes, Bond, Benschop, Grant’s mother and others, he went to Eve Leary, where he identified Wallace as the man who had shot him.
‘Reasonable’
Responding to questions under cross-examination from defence attorney Sonia Parag, Chalmers explained that if a person advances reasons for not participating in an ID parade, they cannot be forced.
He said if the police officer conducting the parade is satisfied that the reason advanced is a “reasonable one,” then the parade cannot be conducted. The retired superintendent, however, said “there are other procedures you can follow.”
Asked whether he accepted her client’s explanation for not being on the parade as “reasonable,” Chalmers answered Parag in the affirmative and added that it was the reason he no longer held the parade.
When asked, the witness told attorney Parag that while he accepted her client’s explanation, he did not know who it was that had pointed the accused out to Hughes and others. Asked if he later found out that person was Bollers, the witness said no.
Chalmers is the 16th of the 21 witnesses to be called by the state.
He was the only witness who testified at yesterday’s hearing. The prosecution explained that the remaining police witnesses are still performing special post-elections duties. The country’s general elections were held on Monday.
The case is scheduled to continue on Monday morning at 9. The prosecution’s case is that Wallace had ordered Grant and his friends to lie on the ground and while complying Bollers began removing his cell phone from his pocket. At once, there was a bang, which appeared to be a gunshot.
The prosecutor had said in her opening address that Bollers was shot to the head, while Grant was heard saying, “Officer, officer, I get shoot.” She said that what appeared to be other gunshots rang out and following the shooting Bollers was injured and Grant was dead.
The court had heard from Prosecutor Judith Gildharie-Mursalin that according to the police’s version, Bollers was attempting to run away from them, and at the same time, had discharged a round at them from a weapon which he had. “The officers claimed that the action by Bollers was the catalyst for their shooting,” Gildharie-Mursalin had said.
In his testimony to the court however, Bollers said that contrary to what police have claimed, neither he nor any of his friends had any weapon when the police opened fire on them.
Blue and Lewis were also charged with Grant’s murder, but were never arrested. Warrants had been issued for their arrest. While Lewis remains at large, Blue was subsequently shot and killed during a botched robbery on the East Coast Demerara.
