Rohan Rambarran v The Queen

• Jurisdiction: Caribbean States
• Judge: Saunders, P.CCJ,Wit, J.CCJ,Rajnauth-Lee, J.CCJ,Barrow, J.CCJ,Jamadar, J.CCJ.
• Judgment Date: 20 July 2020
• Court: Caribbean Court of Justice
• Docket Number: CCJ Application No. BBCVR2019 of 003 BB Criminal Appeal No. 6 of 2009; CCJ Application No. BBCR2019 of 004 Barbados Criminal Appeal No. 9 of 2009

Caribbean Court of Justice

Saunders, P.CCJ; Wit, J.CCJ; Rajnauth-Lee, J.CCJ; Barrow, J.CCJ; Jamadar, J.CCJ.

CCJ Application No. BBCVR2019 of 003 BB Criminal Appeal No. 6 of 2009; CCJ Application No. BBCR2019 of 004 Barbados Criminal Appeal No. 9 of 2009

Rohan Rambarran

and

The Queen

Gavin Wayne Green

and

The Queen

Appearances:

Sir Richard Cheltenham QC and Ms Shelly-Ann Seecharan for the Applicant (BBCR2019/003)

Mr. Marlon Gordon for the Applicant (BBCR2019/004)

Ms Krystal Delaney, Mr. Neville Watson and Mr. Rudolph Burnett for the Respondent

Criminal Law - Appeal against conviction — Possession of cannabis — Whether applications satisfied requirements to qualify for grant of special leave to appeal — Doyle v. The Queen [2011] CCJ 4 — R v. Pinder [2016] CCJ 13.

REASONS FOR DECISION

1 At the end of the hearing on 30 June 2020 of the two applications for special leave to appeal against conviction, the Court refused the applications of both Rohan Rambarran and Gavin Green and promised to give brief reasons.

2 Both men were convicted, along with four others, of importation, possession and trafficking of large amounts of cannabis and cocaine. The Court of Appeal dismissed their appeals against conviction but reduced their sentences and they were both released.

3 Rambarran sought to appeal on grounds that all related to the evidence. Principally, he wished to argue that the trial judge should have upheld his submission of no case to answer and that the evidence as to the identification of the drugs was totally discredited and otherwise unreliable. Green wished to appeal against the directions the trial judge gave in relation to corroboration and the right against self-incrimination.

4 The Court of Appeal Criminal Appeals Nos 6, 9 & 10 of 2009 and No 2 of 2010 Rambarran and others v. The Queen (28 August 2019), unreported dealt adequately with all the issues that the applicant Rambarran wished to argue on a further appeal and their judgment leaves this Court satisfied that there is no potential miscarriage of justice or arguable error of law. In essence, in the case of Rambarran, the Court of Appeal found that there was sufficient and reliable evidence on which a jury could properly convict. In relation to Green, this Court found there was no substance to his contention (as it evolved) that the trial judge should have given a stronger direction on how to treat the sworn testimony of a co-accused or on...