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THE Sean Luke murder trial continued on Wednesday with the cross-examination of one of the State’s main witnesses, Arvis Pradeep.
Pradeep is the 17th witness to give evidence, either orally or through written statements, at the trial of Akeel Mitchell and Richard Chatoo.
The two are charged with Luke’s murder on a date unknown sometime between March 25 and 29, 2006, at Orange Valley, Couva.
Both men opted for a judge-only trial, which is being presided over by Justice Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds.
The trial is being held virtually for the most part, although witnesses are giving evidence from one of the 23 virtual access customer centres, since court buildings are off-limits to the public, except by appointment, because of the rise in covid19 cases.
Mitchell and Chatoo are appearing virtually from the Maximum Security Prison, Arouca, from the virtual courts there.
They have been separated to allow for physical distancing.
At Wednesday’s session, Mitchell’s attorney Mario Merritt spent the entire day grilling Pradeep, who will return on Friday to be questioned by one of Chatoo’s attorneys.
The media are temporarily restricted from reporting Pradeep’s evidence and that of another witness, Avinash Baboolal, until the former completes his testimony.
Ramsumair-Hinds previously said this was not a prohibition on reporting, but was delayed reporting. She warned that should the media publish any of the evidence of either man before Pradeep completes his testimony, they would run the risk of contempt-of-court proceedings.
Both men lived in the Orange Valley village.
Luke’s body was found on March 28, 2006, in a cane field close to his home. An autopsy revealed that he died from internal injuries arising from being sodomised with a cane stalk.
Mitchell and Chatoo are represented by attorneys Mario Merritt, Evans Welch, Kirby Joseph, Randall Raphael, Kelston Pope and Gabriel Hernandez.
Prosecuting are state attorneys Sabrina Dougdeen-Jaglal, Anju Bhola and Sophia Sandy-Smith.
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