By Staff Writer
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, May 29, CMC- The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Roger Gaspard, on Friday night defended his decision to instruct the police to charge the common law wife of a 31-year-old man killed during a police involved shooting in January that has sparked protest action here.
“The regrettable killing of Joshua Samaroo, the serious wounding of another person on the 20th of January, 2026, and the subsequent charges arising therefrom have justifiably generated huge public interest, and this has been reflected and shaped by extensive coverage in the electronic, print, and social media,” Gaspard said in a statement.
He said many of the views expressed have been predicated upon the public’s viewing of video footage, which purports to cover the unfortunate events.
“That footage, among other things, prompted the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) to conduct a criminal investigation. I am aware that it also triggered an investigation by the Police Complaints Authority,” Gaspard said, adding that he has met and spoken with the PCA.
He said that on the completion of the investigation by the police, and my having perused the evidence from the Forensic Science Centre, I advised the TTPS to prefer several charges.
“Permit me to remind you that it is not within my constitutional remit to investigate any crime, nor did I select or pick the evidentiary fruits presented to me by the TTPS”.
Last week, the police said warrants had been issued for the arrest of Kaia Sealy on three counts of shooting with intent to cause grievous bodily harm at the police, and manslaughter, with police alleging that Sealy, who was shot multiple times during the incident and left paralysed, unlawfully killed Samaroo.
Since then, the police have added new charges of having a firearm, possession of ammunition, possession of a firearm with the intent to endanger life, and discharging a firearm within 40 metres of a public place.
Gaspard said that the laying of the charges “does not and cannot be equated with any findings of guilt.
“The presumption of innocence remains. Such a finding is not within my purview. It falls within the exclusive domain of the court,” Gaspard said, adding that “nonetheless, the preferment of charges in this matter has led to expressions of concerns by members of the public, public protests and the urge to have these charges tried in the public domain rather than in the correct legal forum, which is the court.”
Gaspard told the media that, in the circumstances, he is “duty-bound to warn you that you are not to publish any material which has the potential to prejudice the right of the State or the right of any person charged in this matter, to a fair trial.
“Further, I am mandated to do all in my power to ensure that the springs of justice remain undefiled and to curtail any prospect of objectionable publicity,” Gaspard said, adding that in issuing “this directive, I am mindful of the competing public interest factors which undergird our participative democracy, including freedom of the press, freedom of conscience and the right to a fair hearing by an international tribunal”.
He said in Trinidad and Tobago, the rule of law “is a priceless asset and a foundation of our Constitution.
“A related hallmark and safeguard is open justice, which contemplates that criminal trials be conducted in public and only in the courts of the land rather than in the media,” he said, adding that for these reasons he is “unable to rehearse publicly the evidence unearthed by the police.
“Accordingly, I trust that the media, inclusive of social media, will act responsibly and with the required dose of circumspection. A failure to be guided by this warning may render the media and those involved liable to contempt proceedings, since such conduct would constitute an unwelcome interference with the due administration of justice”.
Earlier, Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro told reporters that “everyone will get their day in court” amid the growing controversy that has also led to the police naming 15 places, including the official residence of the prime minister, as no protest zones.
Guevarro said that evidence gathered by investigators must be presented in a court of law and warned against the spread of misinformation as investigations continue.
“We are not a lawless society. Particular issues or decisions may have been made, but there’s a court of law for that, and the court of law is not a public court of law,” he told reporters at the launch of the TTPS Diplomatic Security Unit on Friday.
“…we cannot cast judgement outside of what would be expressed in the court,” he said, adding that when the incident occurred, “I wanted to come out and show everybody the evidence that the police were gathering.
“But I was stopped because we need to express these things in a court of law, and by us doing that, it would prejudice the outcome of the investigation and the matter in the court.
“So I held my tongue. Other persons have decided to expose what they have uncovered as what they believe to be the truth, and they are causing confusion, drama, and bacchanal behaviour in the public.”
The top cop said he is urging the public to “remain calm” and that “everyone will get their day in court and it will be expressed before a magistrate, before a judge, before a jury, and the whole of Traylor and Tobago will know.”
Guevarro said he wanted to “express the independence of all the organisations involved in terms of this investigation, and urge the members of the public, please, if you are going to protest, if you want to express yourselves, kindly do so with what is present in terms of the law, and stick within the boundaries of what is stated in the law…”
CMC/hg/ir/2026