One of the prosecution’s main witnesses in the trial of Christopher Da Silva, who is accused of murdering teenager Reyad Khan, yesterday recanted his story of seeing the two in a scuffle moments before the killing.
In his testimony before Justice Navindra Singh and a jury yesterday in the High Court in Georgetown, Jonathan Ramkelawan admitted to lying in the statement he gave to police, “because they [the police] threaten fuh beat me and torture me.”
Responding to questions from Prosecutor Siand Dhurjon, the witness, who said that Da Silva is his friend, was adamant that he never saw the young men fighting, though he was at the scene.
Asked by the judge if he had simply “made up a lie” about seeing the men fighting, Ramkelawan said yes, before quickly adding that he provided that information to police only because the lawmen had threatened to beat and torture him.
A visibly irritated Justice Singh then enquired from the witness whether the police had specifically told him to say those words, or else they would beat and torture him. Ramkelawan, however, said that this was not the case.
According to him, after he was threatened, he decided to lie to the two officers who interviewed him.
Asked by an irate Dhurjon if he knew the names of the policemen, the witness said no. Asked whether he would be able to identify them if should he see them again, Ramkelawan again said no, stating, “I din really look at deh face.”
After a successful application for the witness to be deemed hostile, the prosecutor asked him a number of questions and many of his answers deviated from what was recorded in his deposition.
Asked if he saw the accused and deceased go close to each other on the night in question, the witness said no.
When confronted with the account he gave in his deposition, Ramkelawan changed his story, saying that the only time he had seen the two close to each other was when Khan slapped Da Silva.
This witness, who had moments earlier testified that the street was dark where the killing occurred and as a result he could not see anything, was asked by the judge how he was able to see that Khan had slapped the accused.
According to Ramkelawan, he did not actually see Khan slap Da Silva, but saw him motion his hand in the air and thereafter heard what sounded like a slap.
The prosecutor asked the witness why he was saying that the place was dark, when in his statement, he said that there was a light on a nearby lantern pole. Ramkelawan, however, said that the light he referred to was far off from where the attack occurred.
Asked if he had told the police about seeing blood at the scene, Ramkelawan told the court he could not say whether the substance he saw on the ground was blood or water.
Dhurjon suggested to the witness that he was lying to the court and the only reason he was doing so was to help his friend, Da Silva, to get out of trouble. He, however, said he was not lying.
The prosecutor enquired from Ramkelawan whether he was acquainted with the charge of perjury and that it carries a prison sentence. The witness said he did not understand. An annoyed Dhurjon then asked him if he knew that he could be imprisoned for lying to the court. The witness said he was not aware and the prosecutor then asked him whether he was lying because of his ignorance. Ramkelawan, who by this time had provided a number of inconsistent and conflicting responses, however, maintained that he was not lying.
This witness had first recanted his story when he testified during the preliminary inquiry (PI) into the charge at the Providence Magistrate’s Court.
Asked how he felt after the alleged police threats, the witness told defence attorney Maxwell McKay that he was scared.
In response to questions from the jury, Ramkelawan said that Khan never told him of any problem he had with Da Silva. The witness, who testified to being accompanied by his father and brother at the police station, was further asked by the jury whether he told them of the alleged threats the police made to him and that resultantly he lied in his statement. Ramkelawan said he did not.
He told the judge, when asked, that the first time he told anyone he was threatened and lied in his statement was when he made the admission to Magistrate Leron Daly during the PI in 2015.
The charge against Da Silva is that on June 28th, 2012, at 17th Street, Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, he murdered 17-year-old Khan. Khan died from shock and haemorrhage due to a single stab wound, which severed an artery. The state’s case is being presented by Dhurjon, in association with Tuanna Hardy. The trial continues on Tuesday morning at 9.
