DPP defends case where judge freed man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter

The Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has issued a justification for proceeding with a case where a High Court judge last week said there was no evidence to substantiate a conviction and he was therefore freeing the accused even though he had pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

On June 20, Justice Sandil Kissoon   described the incarceration of 22-year-old Marlon Garrett as a travesty and an indictment of the criminal justice system.  He lamented that Garrett had spent nearly the last six years on remand awaiting trial for a murder the prosecution had no evidence to prove he committed.