TRINIDAD-Woman accused of manslaughter in the police involved shooting of her husband granted bail.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The 25-year-old woman, accused of manslaughter following the police involved shooting that left her […]
Black News 
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The 25-year-old woman, accused of manslaughter following the police involved shooting that left her 31-year-old common-law husband dead on January 20, this year, has been released on TT$700,000 (One TT dollar = US$ 0.16) bail.
Kaia Sealy, who appeared virtually before Master Nazeera Ali in the Tunapuna Police Station on Wednesday, will return to court for a status hearing on October 8, with the sufficiency hearing set for October 22.
Sealy was arrested early Wednesday morning as she returned from the United States, where she had been undergoing medical treatment following the police involved shooting that left her 31-year-old common-law husband Joshua Samaroo dead.
The incident led to public protests over the decision to lay charges against her and the police action in January.
Police had earlier issued a warrant for the arrest of Sealy on three counts of shooting with intent to cause grievous bodily harm at the police, manslaughter, with police alleging that Sealy, who was shot multiple times during the incident and left paralyzed, 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 meters of a public place.
On Wednesday, state prosecutor Anthony Jacob told the court that the prosecution would rely on 30 witnesses and 42 witness statements, along with several exhibits, including certificates of analysis, toxicology reports, a post-mortem report and other physical evidence.
Jacob also requested an intimate DNA sample from Sealy, but she declined to provide one on the advice of her attorneys.
Defense attorney Larry Williams, who appeared with attorney Fayola Sandy, questioned the purpose of obtaining the DNA sample, noting that investigators had already recovered DNA samples from the vehicle involved in the incident.
Williams responded that any DNA recovered would “obviously be blood” and argued there was no dispute that Sealy had been inside the vehicle.
“So why would you need her DNA to compare with blood when there is no issue that she was in the car?” Williams submitted.
Jacob said the case file would be sent to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions within the next 30 days for the appointment of State counsel.
Master Ali ordered that the prosecution serve its witness statements by August 24, while the defense has until September 25 to respond. A status hearing has been scheduled for October 8, with the sufficiency hearing set for October 22.
The prosecution did not object to bail, with Sealy’s lawyers stating that their client is the mother of a five-year-old child and requires periodic travel to Boston, United States, for ongoing medical treatment and rehabilitation following the shooting.
They said that Sealy posed no flight risk, saying she had voluntarily returned to Trinidad and Tobago after receiving medical treatment abroad and would continue to return whenever required by the court.
They said that while in the United States she would reside at an address in Massachusetts, and locally she would live with her mother.
Jacob said that while the State normally requests the surrender of a defendant’s passport in such cases, it would not be making that application. Instead, the prosecution asked that it be notified whenever Sealy intends to leave the country.
