The homicide detective who investigated the murder of the son of calypsonian Michael “Sugar Aloes” Osuna, has admitted he had concerns over the alleged eyewitnesses’ accounts of the crime. Despite his reservations over differing descriptions of the suspect, Arnold Isaac, Cpl Courtney Sanchez still proceeded to charge Isaac with murdering Imo Osuna. “They were only concerns,” Sanchez said as he attempted to defend his decision to charge Isaac.
Sanchez made the admission while being crossed examined by Isaac’s lawyer, Kirk Hogan, in the Port-of-Spain Fourth Criminal Court yesterday afternoon. While he remained adamant he made the right decision, Sanchez admitted he should have done more to investigate the discrepancies in the statements of three witnesses. Sanchez also agreed with Hogan he should have looked into the alibi given by Isaac who claimed he was working at the time of the murder.
“It would have been good to check and see if there was a shred of truth in what he was saying?” Hogan asked. Sanchez paused for a minute before he nodded his head in approval. Hogan also questioned why two of the three eyewitnesses, who eventually became the State’s main witnesses in the case, only decided to come foward months after Osuna was killed. “They feared for their lives that is why only took so long,” Sanchez said.
Both witnesses, who identified Isaac by name, initially refused to testify in the preliminary inquiry. Prosecutors used the Evidence (Amendment) Act 2007 to have their witness statements tendered into evidence in court in lieu of their oral testimony. However, last year when the trial began before Justice Carla Brown-Antoine, both witnesses had a change of heart and decided to come to court to testify.
Osuna, 26, was shot dead while attending a christening near his home on Pioneer Drive, Sea Lots, on October 29, 2006. Prosecutor Mauricia Joseph is representing the State. The trial continues this morning.