A policeman who married the ex-girlfriend of a man he charged with murder is now divorced.
Sgt Trivelle Petti, who came under fire from the accused man’s defence attorneys after admitting to the relationship earlier this week, revealed that his marriage ended almost two years ago. He said this yesterday as he was again pressed on the issue in the Port-of-Spain High Court.
“We are no longer together. It ended between 2013 and 2014 and we have had no contact or communication since then,” Petti said.
Petti, a police prosecutor for the past six years, is the police complainant in the trial of Matthew Powder and his younger brother Sherwin.
The siblings are before Justice Althea Alexis-Windsor and stand accused of beating 18-year-old Ryan Samuel to death during a brawl outside La Luna Bar, Arouca, in September 2006.
As he repeatedly denied that his relationship influenced his work on the case, Petti said he met Matthew Powder’s ex-girlfriend Lauren Lange a year after he charged him and his brother and that he only learnt of Powder’s identity several years into the marriage.
When asked if he would have faced disciplinary proceedings had he disclosed his relationship before the trial commenced, Petti said no.
Besides his marriage, Petti was also quizzed on why he did not testify at the preliminary inquiry into the case.
Whereas Petti claimed that his absence was due to the fact that he had broken his leg in three places, Sherwin’s lawyer Michelle Solomon-Baksh said his excuse was not communicated to the prosecutors, who almost obtained an arrest warrant for him near the end of the inquiry in 2008.
“I was not trying to protract or deviate the proceedings,” Petti said.
He was then questioned as to why he and other investigators did not seize Powder’s clothing to test for DNA evidence when the accused was arrested shortly after the incident.
“It was not torn and showed no signs of blood or anything else of interest,” Petti said.
An alleged oral confession is the main piece of evidence linking Powder to the crime, as the state’s sole eyewitness was able to identify only his brother Sherwin in an identification parade.
Prosecutors are expected to close their case when their last witness, the police officer who supervised the parade, testifies this afternoon.