HGP Nightly News – Defence Attorney Dr. Dexter Todd has sharply criticised the police investigation into the ongoing Elections Fraud Case, following a walkthrough of the former GECOM tabulation centre at the Ashmins building.
Speaking after the visit, Dr. Todd said the exercise exposed what he described as serious weaknesses in the way the matter was investigated from the beginning.
According to him, if the police had properly investigated the case, one of the first steps should have been a visit to the scene with witnesses shortly after statements were taken. He said that would have allowed investigators to reconstruct the scene, take proper measurements and record where key items were located.
“So this is what happens when you do not investigate a matter properly,” Todd said.
He argued that, more than six years later, witnesses are now being asked to rely on memory to reconstruct the scene. He said this has resulted in inconsistencies in their accounts of where objects such as the projector, screen and head table were located under the shed at the Ashmins building.
Todd said some witnesses were closer than others in their recollection. He stated that Rasul and Yearwood appeared to be closest in identifying where the projector and screen were, although their measurements were still not the same. He claimed, however, that Minister Farag was “totally off” in his reconstruction.
The attorney said these differences exist because the original witness statements did not include precise measurements, diagrams or layouts showing where people and objects were positioned.
According to Todd, the walkthrough gave witnesses an opportunity to “guess” where things may have been, instead of relying on details properly recorded during the investigation.
“What happened here today is the prosecutor attempting to do what the police should have done,” he said.
Dr. Todd further criticised the conduct of the case, describing the proceedings as a “show.” He suggested that prosecutors know where the matter is heading, based on the charges, the legal elements required to prove them and the evidence so far presented by witnesses in court.
He also expressed hope that the case would come to an end, saying the lengthy proceedings have continued for too long.
The Elections Fraud Case remains before the courts and relates to events following the March 2020 General and Regional Elections.
