More than seven years after the police charged a 38-year-old butcher with failing to provide a specimen of breath, a San Fernando magistrate found him not guilty on Wednesday.
Stephan Boxie, 38, of Palmyra, reappeared before magistrate Natalie Diop, who heard submissions from his attorney Ainsley Lucky.
PC Sookhai, now deceased, charged Boxie in August 2014.
The father of one had pleaded not guilty, got bail and the case went to trial. However, Sookhai died before the trial started, and the State relied on his written summary of evidence to prosecute Boxie.
On Wednesday, Lucky told the magistrate he did not get a chance to cross-examine and challenge the deceased officer on " mistakes" in the evidence. The attorney said the State’s evidence suggested that when Sookhai stopped the car, Boxie was driving on the Gulf View Link Road in La Romaine on August 22, 2104, and only one of his eyes appeared red.
The evidence also said Boxie was swaying from side to side. Lucky questioned whether it was his client or the car that was swaying.
Lucky referred to the hearing as "superfluous" and quoted three cases to support his claim.
At the trial, Boxie and his wife gave evidence but the State relied only on the summary of evidence.
The magistrate later found Boxie not guilty.
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