PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):
THE DIRECTOR of Public Prosecution (DPP), Geoffrey Henderson, says the State intends to "pursue all of its options, including an appeal" as a High Court Thursday freed two persons on charges of murdering the wife of a prominent surgeon.
Charges against schoolteacher Seeromani Maraj-Naraynsingh, the third wife of the Professor Vijay Naraynsingh and businessman Elton Ramasir, were freed of murdering the surgeon's second wife, Dr. Chandra Naraynsingh, who was shot on June 29, 1994.
Last year, a magistrate's court had dismissed murder charges against the surgeon.
Judge Herbert Volney, addressing members of the jury after the prosecution had concluded its case, told them that they were entitled to stop the trial if they had formed the view that they could not render a verdict of guilty based on the evidence heard so far.
"In all criminal trials by judge and jury, the jury finds the facts. The judge deals with the law and instructs the jury on law. The prosecution carries the burden of proving the case against the accused. The state is not entitled to a verdict of guilty unless it calls evidence that the jury accepts to be true and establishes the guilt of the accused," the judge said.
