That's very hard talk and you may wonder how did it get to all this nastiness? For perspective we turned to a former DPP, Lutchman Sooknandan. He worked in the DPP's office from 1986 to 1994 and served as DP from 1992 to 1994. He was also Andersons's boss during that time when the then very young Jamaican barrister was a crown counsel, along with Adolph Lucas and Michelle Arana, both now justices of the Supreme Court. Sooknandan told us all this is just really immature and really sad.
Lutchman Sooknandan, Former DPP (1992 - 1994)
"As far as I gathered, there was some kind of files being sent backward and forward from the DPP's office to the Police Department and then from the Police Department back to the DPP. I think that is a very immature act. It should never be played out like that at all. However the DPP has the final say, having read the file to decide and to prefer charges based on the investigation and he is the person who will decide what charge to lay against any accused person.
So the police ought to carry out his directive. They have to. They should have. That could have been solved easily instead of taking the files forward and backward and not wanting to interfere with other files which I think is very immature. I would say on both parties, but more so on the DPP because he is the man with the legal training, he is the so called expert and he should not allow or help to create an atmosphere like that.
What will the public think now? We are all here serving the public and when we behave in that kind of fashion, which is highly immature, we do not give the public any confidence in what we do."
As we've noted the DPP is out of the country, he left the day after the file transfer circus. The Commissioner of Police has declined comment.
