Legal process was unfair

THE LEGAL PROCESS WAS UNFAIR

By Ewart Layne, 1999

We of the Grenada 17 and our supporters have been saying for 8 years now that the legal process which we were put through was unfair.

We want to make it abundantly clear that our complaint is not just about legal niceties. It is a fundamental complaint, in that we are saying that the verdicts returned against us at the trial and upheld on appeal were bad in law. That is why we say with all the conviction we can muster that justice according to law demands that we be freed. This is an entirely different issue from that of political and moral responsibility for the events, including the October 19^th tragedy which we have publicly and unequivocally accepted.

This article focuses on the case against the former leaders of the NJM, collectively described as the NJM Central Committee. It is not motivated by any feelings of anger or recrimination or any desire to hit back; we have long passed that stage. The article is an effort to address and lay bare a critical aspect of the legal process, the significance of which has been buried under a mountain of propaganda.

The entire analysis, which follows, is based on the case presented by the prosecution; on evidence from prosecution witnesses.

It would be recalled that the Grenada 17 refused to recognise the court or participate in the trial except to make indicative defence statements from the dock. There was therefore no cross-examination of the prosecution witnesses nor were there any witnesses for the defence. In other words, basically only one side of the story was presented. Yet it would be established herein that even on the basis of this one side of the story if the case was fairly put to an impartial jury there could have been no convictions.

Evidence of Cletus St. Paul: It’s Importance

At the trial the prosecution relied on the evidence of Cletus St. Paul to convict all those who were executive members of the NJM and hence leaders of the Revolution. His was the sole evidence against the leaders. This was made clear by the trial judge when he was explaining to the jury the importance of St. Paul’s evidence. Without his evidence there could have been no convictions. Therefore, if his evidence is bad then the convictions are by that very fact bad.

Cletus St. Paul was the former chief bodyguard of PM Bishop. He was arrested on October 12^th 1983, according to him on the orders of the NJM CC. He was locked up at Camp Fedon in Calivigny from October 12^th 1983 to October 19^th 1983.

J.O.F Haynes and St. Paul’s Evidence

It should be noted that at the outset of the appeal then President of the Court of Appeal J.O.F. Haynes made it clear that he considered the convictions of the NJM leaders suspect because to him St. Paul’s evidence lacked credibility.

Justice Haynes also expressed his grave misgivings at the fact that St. Paul had given five (5) different Statements: three (3) to the police; one at the preliminary inquiry; and his testimony at the trial. He could not understand how the same person could give such different statements.

On account of his concern Justice Haynes ruled that he was going to call Cletus St. Paul before the court so that he could question him himself.

However, Justice Haynes died suddenly before he could question St. Paul. A new Court of Appeal was constituted. The decision to call St. Paul was shelved. The police statements of St. Paul have never been provided to the defence. And of course, all the convictions were upheld.

Untruth

The untruthfulness of the evidence of Cletus St. Paul is demonstrated by the fact of its inconsistency with that given by all other prosecution witnesses.

At the end of this document are two tables which address the critical issue of time.

Table One shows the time during which some of the critical events took place. The final column to the right shows the time elapse or time gap between the various events. Table Two which follows is an expanded version of Table One and explains the movements of Cletus St. Paul on October 19^th.

What emerged from the trial was a remarkable level of consistency between witnesses at different locations with regard to time. One witness was located at Old Fort; another one was located at the Mental Hospital near to Fort Frederick; another was at the Fire Station on the Carenage; yet another was at Richmond Hill Prison. Some were part of the crowd which went to Mt. Wheldale. And some were on Fort Rupert.

All the witnesses except one, based on the time they gave and the activities they described, were agreed that at least 2 hours elapsed between the time Fort Rupert was over taken by the civilian crowd and the time the tragedy started to unfold on Fort Rupert, i.e. when the APC’s (Armoured People Carriers) arrived up there and the shooting started.

One witness, a Sandhurst-trained military man was located at Old Fort overlooking St. George’s. He said that the APC’s arrived at Fort Rupert and the shooting started at 1:15 p.m. Given that witness's background his estimate of time is likely to be highly accurate. This 1:15 p.m. estimate also corresponds to the 1:39 p.m. time officially recorded by the Fire Station Chief for the fire alarm caused by the fire at Fort Rupert immediately following the approximately 15 minutes shootout at the Fort when the APC’s arrived

Indeed, when the 11.00 a.m. time for the arrival of the crowd at Fort Rupert, which other witnesses gave, is combined with the 1:15 p.m. time for the start of the shooting at Fort Rupert given by the Sandhurst-trained military man, we get a 2 Ľ hour time gap between the two events.

The only witness whose evidence is inconsistent was Cletus St. Paul. Although St. Paul was very careful to avoid giving any times for any event at the trial, something which is itself suspect, what is clear is that his story is radically inconsistent with a two hour time gap for the two critical events, namely, the seizure of Fort Rupert and the arrival of the APC’s.

St. Paul’s Story

St. Paul’s story is that he was standing at the entrance of Fort Frederick on October 19^th 1983 when he saw Bernard Coard and other members of the Central Committee arrive in a state of great urgency. That immediately upon their arrival they huddled together for a brief moment right there at the entrance, only half dozen yards from him. That he saw them shaking their heads and moving their hands though he could not hear what they were saying. That shortly after in the presence of the others, one of the CC members, Cornwall, made a very short statement to soldiers who were gathered at Fort Frederick that Bishop and others had taken over the Fort and that they must be liquidated. That immediately after Cornwall’s statement Coard and the rest of the CC members left for the top level of Fort Frederick. But that Ewart Layne stayed back and spoke to some of the army commanders. And shortly thereafter, those commanders together with a contingent of troops on APC’s left Fort Frederick. And that, 10-15 minutes later, he heard shooting from Fort Rupert.

Missing 2 Hours

On St. Paul’s version, no more that 15 to 20 minutes would have elapsed between the seizure of Fort Rupert and the commencement of the tragedy. Two hours would go missing.

On St. Paul’s version, some of the people who died on Fort Rupert could not have died there. They would not have been there because they arrived there over one hour after the Fort was seized. If St. Paul is speaking the truth then it must be that those people are alive somewhere. They were not at Fort Rupert.

On St. Paul’s version, some of the people who said they were in the Operations Room at Fort Rupert and who described their experience in graphic details would be lying. They could not have been there because they went to the Fort a long time after it was seized. Some close to two hours after. No one would seriously suggest that these people lied. But that is the irresistible logic of Cletus St. Paul’s evidence. If he is speaking the truth then they are lying. And if they are speaking the truth St. Paul is lying. It is as simple as that.

The Truth

Table Two below lays out the truth as to St. Paul’s whereabouts on October 19^th 1983. The truth is that Cletus St. Paul did not see a single member of the CC arrive at Fort Frederick on October 19^th 1983.

He could not have seen that because at the time the CC members were arriving at Fort Frederick Cletus St. Paul would have been at Camp Fedon in Calivigny.

Cletus St. Paul arrived at Fort Frederick a whole 1˝ hours after Bernard Coard et al. He arrived there together with the unit led by Conrad Mayers. He arrived there in handcuffs, since on his own admission he was a prisoner at Calivigny since October 12^th 1983. There are dozens of soldiers in our community who were at Fort Frederick or who arrived from Calivigny together with St. Paul who can verify when he, St. Paul, arrived. They would have been too fearful to go public. But anyone interested in the truth can get that from them. Indeed, those interested in the truth, can also read St. Paul’s testimony at the Preliminary Inquiry. There he said on cross-examination that he arrived at Fort Frederick at 12.30 p.m. which is 1˝ hours after the people arrived at Fort Rupert and Coard et al arrived at Fort Frederick.

As a footnote: it would also be observed that at the PRELIMINARY Inquiry in 1984, only a few months after the tragic events, St. Paul says nothing about seeing anything at Fort Frederick which could pass as a Central Committee meeting. However, at the trial 2˝ years after the events, he recalls seeing the Central Committee members huddled together and shaking their heads – the prosecution’s evidence of a Central Committee meeting. This is not a minor detail because in law the mere presence of the Central Committee at Fort Frederick, based on St. Paul’s Preliminary Inquiry evidence, would not have been sufficient to secure convictions against all of them. Some form of participation in making a decision had to be established. The huddle and the shaking of heads and moving of hands is how the prosecution decided to achieve that. It was a neat legal manoeuvre which shows the presence of a legal mind.

The Problem the Prosecution Had

The problem the prosecution faced is that they could obtain no truthful evidence to convict the members of the Central Committee. Yet the conviction of the surviving leaders was so important for those who had seized Grenada that they were prepared to manufacture evidence to achieve that. Because the Grenadian people were already angered by the death of Bishop in particular and the loss of the Revolution and given the job the invaders did in demonizing the surviving leaders, they were confident that Grenadians would go along. So they manufactured evidence.

It is instructive that in 1983 or early 1984, in answer to questions from the regional media to the reason for the delay in laying charges against the former leaders, Sir Nicholas Braithwaite, then head of the interim government, told the Caribbean media that there was no evidence to charge anyone. Clearly, Sir Nicholas being a man of high Christian values must have been greatly disturbed by the fact that at one time there was no evidence but then later evidence of a highly dubious nature appeared. We suspect that this doubt must have played a role in Sir Nicholas and Mrs Purcell taking the courageous decision to commute the death sentences in 1991

A Further Problem

In using St. Paul to manufacture the evidence which nearly sent the former NJM leaders to the gallows, the prosecution had a further problem. The only other witness who gave testimony with regard to Fort Frederick stated that he was standing outside of the gate of Fort Frederick when Bernard Coard, Selwyn Strachan and others arrived in haste. He said that as they jumped out of their cars they shouted Forward Ever! Backward Never! And they immediately departed for the top level of the Fort about 100 yards away.

St. Paul therefore could not testify that the CC members remained down in the bottom yard in front of him for any length of time. It had to be a brief time span so that it could be argued that the other witness standing far away missed the brief delay. The other witness had previously stated that he did not know Layne so St. Paul could safely have him stay back to ‘Give the orders’. It was a neat operation and that is why we are convinced, though we cannot prove, that St. Paul did not fabricate this on his own, but that a legal mind was behind this manufacture.

St. Paul’s Evidence: How It Was ‘Backed Up’

Throughout the legal process everything was done to ensure that St. Paul’s piece of fabrication could be effectively used.

Mention has already been made of the fact that his three different police statements were never handed over to the defence. `

Mention has also been made of the shelving of the decision to call St. Paul before the court to question him. Once President J.O.F. Haynes died suddenly, this decision was swept aside.

Additionally:

At the preliminary inquiry another prosecution witness, Errol George, gave evidence which gives the lie to Cletus St. Paul’s evidence that he was there standing at Fort Frederick when members of the CC arrived. The prosecution refused to call that witness at the trial. And the court, despite the call of the undefended accused to do so, also refused.

There is a duty officer diary which was kept at Fort Frederick. This diary would have a record of persons who entered Fort Frederick on October 19^th. It would show that Bernard Coard and others arrived at around 11.00 a.m. and that the unit from Calivigny along with a prisoner, Cletus St. Paul, arrived there at 12.30 p.m. Since this is an official document it can be used in evidence. The Americans seized this diary in 1983 and despite the appeals by The 17 to have it returned to assist them in their defence, the Americans have refused to hand it over.

At the trial the judge spent several days summing up the case and giving directions to the jury. His summing up runs into hundreds of pages. Yet, over all these days not even on one single occasion did the judge draw to the attention of the jury the fact that St. Paul’s evidence does not fit with that of the other prosecution witnesses. There is not even a hint of that. The jury would therefore have retired completely oblivious of the fact that St. Paul’s evidence was at odds with that of the other witnesses, and the implication of that. This failure by the judge, this non-direction, is fatal to the convictions. Any appeal court with even a modicum of integrity would quash the convictions on this ground alone not to mention scores of other grounds.

Not Just Legal Niceties

So when we say that the trial was unfair we are not just speaking of legal niceties.

Not just about the fact that nine (9) separate laws were passed to deal with our case.

Not just that the self-declared unconstitutional court was kept in place because of our case and our case alone. [This was openly admitted in an official letter from the then O.E.C.S. Prime Ministers, submitted to the Appeal Court.]

Not just that a prosecution lawyer was the one who selected the array from which the final panel of jurors was drawn.

Not just the fact that the array was selected in a highly irregular manner.

Not just that the summoned array was highly biased, and demonstrated this by shouting at The 17 in open court, two weeks before the first witness was called, that we were ‘Criminals and Murderers’.

Not just that nothing was done by the judge to screen the panel so as to neutralise or mitigate the effect of the massive prejudice dished out by the media against the Seventeen for over 2˝ years before the commencement of the trial.

Not just that the judge took the unprecedented step of metaphorically putting a gun to the head of the jury by giving them a verdict sheet which each of them had to sign and return showing how they voted on each count. Even in general elections people vote secret ballots. The issue of the secrecy of the jury process in the Commonwealth is as fundamental to the judicial process as secret balloting is to fair elections. The judge’s action amounted to duress and naked coercion of the jury. After the 2˝ years and millions of dollars spent in propaganda to poison the minds of Grenadians, which juror would have signed a paper saying that he/she voted to acquit Bernard Coard, for example?

So our complaint about the lack of a fair trial is not just about the fact that the Appeal Court, following the death of J.O.F. Haynes, refused to call St. Paul to be questioned at the appeal.

It is not just about the failure of the Court of Appeal, indeed the refusal of the court of Appeal, to hand over a written judgement, up to this day, in open violation of Section 8 of the Grenada Constitution.

What we are saying is that, outside of all the above, the convictions over our heads would have been impossible. In a fair trial the verdicts would have been not guilty. In a fair appeal the guilty verdicts would have been quashed. That is what we mean when we say that justice according to law demands that we be freed.

Political and Moral Responsibility and 16 Years Imprisonment

This is not to say that we are bitter about the 16 years imprisonment. We have accepted it among other reasons because we view it as the price we have had to pay for being responsible in a profound sense for the disaster of October 19, 1983, for the demise of the Grenada Revolution, for the pain and suffering inflicted upon many Grenadians during the Revolution and for the pain so many have suffered since. We think that the acceptance of this punishment with dignity is the honourable thing. And that is why any fear or concern that we would seek compensation for the 16 years or seek revenge against others is totally without basis.

Grenada will soon have to face up to a new millennium. The world has to face it. We believe it is time to look forward. From our standpoint, we think it’s time to bring an end to our ordeal. We just want to get on with our lives; to care for our children and families. We just want to move on.

Cletus St. Paul, We Have Forgiven You

Finally, we say to Cletus St. Paul: We have forgiven you. Of course we were bitter and angry for years. But we have let go of the anger and the bitterness. We know you were committed to the Revolution. We know that you loved Maurice immensely. We are clear that the desire for revenge is what motivated you to do what you did. We pray that it would be possible to forgive yourself for something that the better side of you must tell you was wrong. We pray that with the help of God you will be able to find inner peace.

TABLE 1

TABLE OF TIME SOME OF THE MAIN EVENTS OCCURRED ON OCTOBER 19^TH 1983

No.	TIME	EVENT	TIME ELAPSE
1	Approx. 0800-0900 hrs	Crowds start to gather in the streets of St. George’s.
2	Approx. 1000 hrs	Sizeable crowd reaches the entrance of Mt Wheldale (the compound which housed the homes of PM Bishop and Bernard Coard).	1 –2 hour
3	Approx. 1030 hrs	Crowd breaks into the compound of Mt. Wheldale. Bishop leaves with them.	30 minutes
4	Approx. 1100 hrs	Crowd enters Fort Rupert Those members of the Central Committee who were at the home of Bernard Coard depart for Fort Frederick.	30 minutes
5	Approx. 1105 hrs	Bernard Coard et al arrive at Fort Frederick	5 minutes
6	Approx. 1300 hrs	Troops leave Fort Frederick for Fort Rupert	2 hours
7	Approx. 1315 hrs	Troops arrive at Fort Rupert. Shooting begins.	(10 – 15) minutes

TABLE 2

EXPANDED TABLE OF TIME OF SOME OF THE MAIN EVENTS ON OCTOBER 19^TH 1983

No.	TIME	EVENT	TIME ELAPSE
1.	Approx. 0600 hrs	Unit at Calivigny rises. Cletus St. Paul is at that time a prisoner at Calivigny.
2.	Approx. 0900 hrs	Crowds start to gather in the streets of St. George’s.	2 - 3 hours
3.	Approx. 1000 hrs	Sizeable crowd reaches the entrance of Mt Wheldale.	1 hour
4.	Approx. 1030 hrs	Crowd breaks into the compound of Mt. Wheldale. Bishop leaves with them.	30 minutes
5.	Approx. 1050 hrs	Combat alarm is sounded in Calivigny.	20 minutes
6.	Approx. 1100 hrs	Crowd enters Fort Rupert Those members of the Central Committee who were at the home of Bernard Coard depart for Fort Frederick.	10 minutes
7.	Approx. 1105 hrs	Bernard Coard et al arrive at Fort Frederick	5 minutes
8.	Approx. 1230 hrs	Unit from Calivigny arrives at Fort Frederick. C. St. Paul arrives together with unit as a prisoner.	1 ˝ hours
9.	Approx. 1300 hrs	Troops leave Fort Frederick for Fort Rupert	30 minutes
10.	Approx. 1315 hrs	Troops arrive at Fort Rupert. Shooting begins.	(10 – 15) minutes

Ewart Layne was a Lt. Colonel in the People's Revolutionary Army, and Day to Day Commander of the Army at the time of October 19, 1983. In 1996 he was awarded an LLB (Law) (Honours) degree by London University. In August 1999 he wrote the final exam for an LLM (Masters in Law) with the same London University and is awaiting results.