JURORS on Wednesday were shown closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the stabbing of Sabrina Lalla-Mitchell allegedly at the hands of her ex-husband at her workplace in San Fernando in 2010.
On Wednesday, prosecutors opened their case against fisherman Willand Mitchell who is on trial for killing his former wife at Bavarian Motors, Todd Street, San Fernando, on October 26, 2010.
The San Fernando trial is taking place at the O’Meara Judicial Centre in Arima. The presiding judge, Justice Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds, jurors, attorneys for the State and defence, and Mitchell are at the Arima court facility. A link to the hearing has been provided for the public to view the trial and Mitchell was allowed to sit close to his attorneys for the trial.
Lead prosecutor Stacy Laloo-Chung opened the State’s case, giving jurors a brief preview of the evidence, which mainly consists of formal admissions. She said the incident was captured on the CCTV system at Barvarian Motors and was witnessed by the couple’s two young children, Seth and Shaydon, who were 11 and 10 at the time.
She also said after the incident, Mitchell allegedly inflicted injuries on himself using the ten-inch knife he allegedly used on his ex-wife, from whom he was divorced approximately a year before.
Along with the CCTV footage, jurors were also shown photographs of the bloody crime scene taken by the police photographer.
Lalla-Mitchell, 34, an assistant manager, was stabbed 20 times, according to an autopsy report. The knife ripped through her heart and lungs.
Much of Wednesday’s evidence was in the form of formal admissions of some of the State’s 20 witnesses whose testimony were read out to the jury by the judge. They included evidence from Lalla-Mitchell’s former co-workers, former sales executives at Bavarian Motors, who spoke of seeing her ex-husband drop off their two sons and them speaking in the showroom before they heard screaming and saw her being stabbed.
The dead woman’s brother and father’s statements were also read out to the jury. The only witness to give testimony, in person, was Cpl Roger Reid who took Mitchell’s statement and charged him with Lalla-Mitchell’s murder. The statements were read to the jurors by the judge.
Also at Wednesday’s sitting, one of the jurors was replaced by an alternate because of flooding in south Trinidad over the last two days. The judge referred to the flooding as a “crisis” and said she empathised with those who were affected.
She also had cause to subpoena the employer of another juror and warned that she would not allow any employer to victimise any juror.
While addressing the jurors, Ramsumair-Hinds said the court had been provided with a document which caused her great concern. She also read from the Jury Act which speaks to the penalties for employers found guilty of victimising a worker for serving as a juror.
She said she intended to issue the subpoena or cause those sections of the act to be implemented because “an employer cannot victimise any juror.”
Ramsumair-Hinds said th
