And while a key witness is gone, so is the DPP. She will recuse herself from this trial, because the accused was her nephew by marriage.
A special prosecutor will be appointed, but that hasn't happened yet. So, how will police assess whether they can charge Elmer Nah for a third murder - that of Vivian Ramnarace - when the main advisor in such matters has been recused?
We asked the Compol:
Jules Vasquez
"How hard is it tom proceed in this case without the active involvement of the director of public prosecutions, because for example when you have to bring additional charges, I know you all would normally consult with her, because Miss Ramnarace died as consequence of post-surgical complications, yes from the injuries she received, but you know how these arguments go, it can be argued that it could have been medical malpractice that rightly lead to her death. How hard is it for you all to proceed in this case without consulting the DPP?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"There is a thing in law that's called causation and what needs to be done is that we must await the post-mortem results and what the doctor would certify as being the cause of death. Now, how causation work is that there must be a causal link between the act perpetrated by the accused and the death of the individual person. If that causal link is broken then the accused cannot be held to be liable and therefore I am almost sure that once the post-mortem is done, the charge against Elmer Nah will be upgraded from that of attempt murder, dangerous harm to murder."
Jules Vasquez
"But you all would do that without the involvement of the DPP, because I ask you about the DPP and you seem to be saying you are now the DPP. You just gave me the whole explanation."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Jules, I am not the DPP. I gave you some legal insight. I am attorney. That's my field, a trained attorney. Being an attorney, I just explained to you what the law of causation is. When the time come to upgrade the charges, we are going to do so either with the assistance of the DPP or the DPP is not a person does not have other counsels. There are many senior counsels in her office. You have Mr. Ramirez, you have Ms. Shaneiza Smith, who can advise."
