A PH taxi driver from central Trinidad has lost his appeal challenging his conviction for aiding and abetting a group of men, who kidnapped, robbed and raped a woman over two decades ago.
Delivering an oral judgement after hearing submissions at the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain, yesterday morning, Appellate Judges Charmaine Pemberton, Gillian Lucky and Vasheist Kokaram dismissed Anderson Bonaparte’s appeal.
The appeal panel ruled that former High Court Judge and current Appeal Court Judge Carla Brown-Antoine could not be faulted for how she summed up the evidence and legal issues in the case to the nine-member jury that convicted Bonaparte in late 2022.
Justice Pemberton, who delivered the panel’s decision, commended her colleague for having lengthy discussions with prosecutors and Bonaparte’s lawyer Peter Carter before summarising the case for the jury to deliberate.
“The judge’s engagement with counsel is essential in formulating legal directions for the jury,” Justice Pemberton said.
“She did not just engage. It was a meaningful consultation,” she added.
The incident from which the case stemmed occurred on October 31, 2000.
The victim and two male colleagues boarded Bonaparte’s car after finishing work at a call centre in Chaguaramas.
The car, which was driven by Bonaparte and had a male and female passenger inside, stalled along the Western Main Road.
While Bonaparte was seeking to diagnose the issue, two armed men reportedly approached the car.
The men got in the car with the victim and the two original passengers. Bonaparte managed to start the car and they instructed him to drive to Chaguanas leaving the victim’s co-workers at the scene.
They drove to an abandoned house in Chaguanas where the two armed men and the original male passenger got out and went inside with the victim.
Another man at the house reportedly went with Bonaparte and the female passenger to an ATM to withdraw money from the victim’s bank cards.
They returned to the house and picked up the three men and the victim.
They then drove to a desolate location in Endeavour where they dropped the victim off. Bonaparte then dropped off the three men at another location.
Bonaparte and three men were eventually arrested. They were all charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment, rape, robbery with aggravation and assault with intent to rob.
One of his co-accused died while waiting on the case to go to trial, while another was discharged as there was insufficient evidence linking him.
Bonaparte’s third co-accused pleaded guilty to the offences as was sentenced.
During Bonaparte’s trial, Justice Brown-Antoine upheld a no case submission and directed the jury to return with not guilty verdicts for assault and rape.
Bonaparte testified and claimed that he was acting under duress as the men repeatedly threatened him throughout their interactions.
He claimed that the original female passenger was his girlfriend and she contacted police to tell them the victim’s location after they dropped off the three men.
He was eventually convicted and sentenced to ten years, six month and 15 days for kidnapping, and five years, six months, and 15 days for robbery and false imprisonment.
Although the appeal panel dismissed all the grounds raised in his appeal, it agreed to reduce the two lower sentences by a year.
Despite the reduction, Bonaparte would only be released after completing the highest sentence as the panel ordered that the sentences be served concurrently.
He was also given credit for the eight months and two days he spent in prison after being convicted and before he was granted bail pending the appeal.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was represented by Wayne Rajbansee.
