DIRECTOR OF Public Prosecution Kent Pantry yesterday defended the work of prosecutors in the recently-concluded Kraal trial, which saw Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams and five other policemen being freed of murder.
Speaking at a Rotary Club of Kingston luncheon, the DPP rejected suggestions that the prosecution's case was poorly presented. According to him, the prosecution presented unchallenged ballistic and forensic evidence in the case, despite claims to the contrary by a newspaper writer.
Said Mr. Pantry: "Was the writer aware that the prosecution presented evidence that at least one of the deceased persons was killed after the police had control of the scene and after a witness had been taken outside?"
He said that his office should not be blamed for the outcome of the case.
"In this case, the jury retired for five and a half hours and gave their verdict. Does that affect the justice system? Or does it affects the system of law that has been set up?" he asked. "I have no problems with persons reviewing all these institutions and determining whether or not they have worked," he said.
LOBBY FOR CHANGE
He suggested that what persons needed to do was to lobby to have those things changed. "But don't blame me for exercising my powers given to me by the Constitution," he told his audience.
Mr. Pantry contended that the prosecution's case in the Kraal trial had been well prepared. He said the prosecution team comprised the most experienced persons, including acting Senior Deputy DPP David Fraser, acting Deputy DPP Donald Bryan and acting crown counsel Chester Crooks.
