Allan Sim is likely to know his fate tomorrow when a jury deliberates on the case against him for the alleged murder of hospital ambulance dispatcher Melissa Skeete.
The prosecution closed its case against Sim yesterday. It contends that Sim murdered Skeete, his former partner, on November 23rd, 2015, at Carmichael Street, Georgetown.
Leading his defence in unsworn testimony from the Lusignan Prison where he attended his trial virtually, Sim said that while he had been taken to several police stations and questioned repeatedly about Skeete’s murder, he always remained silent.
He said that at no time did he provide any statement to the police which they allege he did—describing his involvement in the crime.
In fact, he said that he had always told the lawmen that based on advice from his attorney he would not be answering any question nor would he be signing any document.
In his defence, Sim through his attorney Adrian Thompson called his former attorney Patrice Henry to the witness stand.
Henry testified that he had instructed his client not to answer any question nor say anything to the police, except request to have something to eat or to go to the washroom.
The lawyer said that he was “therefore surprised” when he heard on the news that Sim had confessed to murdering Skeete.
Henry told the court that he immediately visited his client who at that time was in custody at the Criminal Investigation Department, Eve Leary, and after speaking with him was informed by Sim that he never made any confession to the police.
In fact, Henry said his client had told him that he had followed his instructions of not speaking to the police and not signing any document.
Under cross-examination, Prosecutor Tuanna Hardy enquired from Henry whether he had been present at all times with his client while he was in custody. To this the lawyer responded in the negative.
The prosecutor then suggested to him that he could not therefore deny that Sim could have given the statement to police.
Henry in response sought to contend that based on the instructions he would have given to Sim, he would not have given any statement to the police.
The lawyer was, however, pressed by the prosecutor and the judge to answer the question with a simple “yes or no,” as that was all it required the judge said.
Henry, however, remained resolute that based on the instructions he would have left with his client; he (Sim) would not have given the police any statement.
Police investigators had testified that the accused had said that he stabbed the woman using a surgical blade with which she first attacked him.
The defence vehemently denies this, holding that Sim at all material times remained silent when questioned about the murder.
Testifying before the close of the prosecution’s case was Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh who said that Skeete died of perforation of the lung due to a stab wound to the chest. He surmised that she had to have been stabbed with a sharp, pointed object of at least 14 inches.
When the matter is called tomorrow morning, both the defence and prosecution will present closing arguments to the jury. Thereafter, trial judge, Justice Navindra Singh has informed that he will sum-up the case and hand it over to the jury for deliberation for the possible return of a verdict.
Skeete, a former ambulance dispatcher attached to the Georgetown Public Hospital was 31 years old at the time of her death.
