Trial of accused in Robb St arson murders discontinued
-after ‘irregular contact’ between member of public, juror
The trial of the two men accused of killing a father and his two daughters by setting their home on fire in 2014 was yesterday brought to an end by Justice Brassington Reynolds after what he described as “irregular contact” between an “interested” member of the public and a member of the jury.
As a result, Justice Reynolds informed the two accused, Ganga Kishna and his former employee Avishkar Bissoon, that they would be further remanded and the case would be brought back to court at the earliest possible date. He then informed the 12 members of the jury that they were discharged.
Commencing the proceedings over an hour after its scheduled 9.30 start and following an in-chamber conference with the defence lawyers and prosecutors, Justice Reynolds took to the bench and had an open court private conversation with a young man before giving his reason for halting the matter.
He informed that since the last court hearing, the matter had taken a “downward turn “in the sense that there were some developments which required his attention and he was forced to conduct an inquiry because of irregular contact between the member of the public and a juror.
The judge further informed that given the information received during the inquiry and the implication of the contact and being reminded of his duty to fairness to all parties involved, the interest of justice could only be served if the matter was brought to a halt.
At that point, the judge commented that the state would have to examine its capacity to insulate juries.
He pointed out that the curiosity of the contact was sufficient to interfere with the course of the trial and he was no longer comfortable that the jury would have been able to discharge its duties fairly.
He noted that “only the good man above” can rule on the irregular contact and emphasised that justice must not only be done but seen to be done.
He raised the concern that the discontinuing of the trial was a huge waste of the state’s resources and recommended that the state address such issues in the future.
It was on November 17th, 2014, that the Robb and King streets home of Hilrod Thomas and his two young daughters, Clarissa and Theresa Rozario, was set ablaze. While the two girls died the same day, their father died sometime later while being hospitalised.
During the now aborted trial, a witness, John Pyneandy, had testified that prior to the fire Ganga Kishna, had threatened to burn the property down.
Pyneandy, who at the time operated several businesses in the lower flat of the three-storey premises, said that despite repeated police warnings to desist from visiting the location, Kishna would still show up and claim ownership of the property.
Kishna and Bissoon are charged with murdering Clarissa, 14 and Theresa, 12, in the course or furtherance of arson in relation to a dwelling house. Thomas, 63 at the tine, who was also in the house, suffered severe burn injuries and later succumbed in hospital on December 21st, 2014.