Elroy Torres, the murder accused who was re-arrested and charged a second time after he was set free in the High Court, will face his second preliminary inquiry next month.
He appeared before acting Chief Magistrate Priya Beharry yesterday and the matter was set for November 9. The prosecution was not in possession of his file yesterday which prompted strong comments from his attorney, Gino Persaud.
Persaud, speaking outside the courtroom, said the case was an unfortunate and distressing one where Torres served five years in prison and was later freed by Justice Ramlall only to immediately re-arrested and taken back to the Magistrate’s Court and charged again with murder on the same facts.
Persaud referred to the fresh proceedings against Torres as an abuse of the process of the court. He said the prisoner went through the process of a complete preliminary inquiry that took two magistrates and waited another year for his trial to come up in the High Court.
Torres has always maintained his innocence, the lawyer said; adding that
through no fault of his own his client has been made to suffer a second round of committal proceedings. “My client at the moment is dazed, confused, distressed and mentally stretched to breaking point because he simply cannot understand what has happened,” Persaud said. He added, “His basic understanding is that he was freed by a High Court judge after waiting five years and now he is rearrested and re-charged and will have to go through a new PI all over again.”
It is alleged that on December 19, 2005 the accused murdered Elizabeth Hutson, called Shelly, outside a city bar. He reportedly stabbed the woman to death.
