AG: Officeholders to be held accountable for failing domestic violence victims

Attorney General Reginald Armour, centre, speaks with attorney Douglas Mendes SC, from left, LATT president Lynette Seebran-Suite SC, and moderator Roberta Clarke during the CADV and CAFRA TT seminar Centering Women in the State's Duty to Protect at the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago building, Frederick Street, Port of Spain, on December 9. - Photo by Ayanna Kinsale

ATTORNEY General Reginald Armour, SC, said when he decided not to appeal the Tot Lampkin judgment, he wanted to make it clear to officeholders they would be held accountable if they did not discharge their responsibilities to victims of domestic violence.

He was speaking at the seminar Centering Women in the State's Duty to Protect: Lessons from the Life of Samantha Isaac, hosted by the TT Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CADV) and Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action TT (CAFRA TT) at the Law Association of TT (LATT) office on Frederick Street on December 9.

Tot Lampkin is the mother of Samantha Isaacs, a domestic abuse victim who was shot dead by her partner (who later killed himself) despite multiple reports to the police and requests for judicial protection over a four-year period.

On May 16, Justice Robin Mohammed held that her rights and that of her mother, Tot Lampkin, and Isaac’s young son, to the protection of the law and respect for private and family life, were infringed by the inaction of the police and the judiciary.

Armour said the judgement was a landmark one for TT.

“I took the decision not to appeal because I considered that as a government, there is more to the task of governance than simply passing legislation. We can establish the legislative framework in which a nation is to be governed but ultimately the people charged with the responsibility to perform positively the charges laid upon them must perform, and that is the significance of the judgement.”

He paid tribute to Lampkin for her courage, saying the case would be taught in classrooms for years so she would be immortalised.

Armour said he wanted to go beyond not appealing the judgement and do something that would guide the police, magistrates, judges and those involved in looking after the vulnerable.

“I said we must alert the public that this decision is now part of the jurisprudence. We had a successful national consultation in September, where the focus was to bring the judiciary, the police, ministers of government, NGOs and other stakeholders, including schools, together to discuss the impact of this decision. After two days, we came up with an outcome statement dated September 25.”

Armour said the judgement alerted officeholders of the State, the police, the judiciary and other people that if they did not positively discharge the responsibilities the legislation casted on them, the State would be held accountable, but if that happened, they as officeholders would held accountable for the fact that they were not discharging their responsibilities.

Armour said he sought legal advice on whether not appealing the judgement would open the State up to similar lawsuits and was told each case would be judged on its own merit.

He said he was cautiously optimistic about how domestic violence would be handled going forward, especially with the work being done by the Gender and Child Affairs Ministry, which he said he was not previously aware of.

Lampkin 'happier than ever' after leaving abuser

Speaking via Zoom, Lampkin said if she had known help was available for victims of domestic violence, she would have let her daughter take it.

From left, moderator Roberta Clarke, Attorney General Reginald Armour, and attorney Douglas Mendes SC listen to Tot Lampkin, mother of Samantha Isaac, during the CADV and CAFRA TT seminar Centering Women in the State's Duty to Protect at the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago building, Frederick Street, Port of Spain, on December 9. - Photo by Ayanna Kinsale

“I remember a time she was on her knees saying she wouldn’t make it. I didn’t know there was help we could get, and we was going by the police all the time. She said she wasn’t going to live it out. She was not as strong as I was.

“I was a victim for 37 years and the only reason I not dead was because he didn’t have a gun to kill me. It was hard to make it out of the abuse because I had nine children and I had to stick with them. Sometimes to visit the police, I had to borrow clothes because mine were burnt and destroyed.”

She shared she left her abuser on the day her daughter died.

“As my partner and I was getting the news that Samantha had been killed, I get a cuff in my face for no reason. The police drew down their guns on him and tell him don’t touch me. After that I moved into Samantha’s apartment with my grandson and now I am happier than I ever was. My children help support me, as I was only living on Samantha’s NIS.”

Lampkin shared that she had given her life to Jesus and was doing therapy. She said she was glad to receive the judgement as it would help her support herself and her grandson.

She said when she reported an incident of abuse, the police were telling her that she could get a protection order and be put in a safehouse, and she was glad to know help was available.

“If those options had been available before, I’m not sure I could have run with nine children. I want the police to tell more victims about their options. Introduce women to the safehouses and the gender-based violence unit. Let’s save our ladies so we don’t have to die all the time.”

Attorney: State failed Samantha

Attorney-at-law Douglas Mendes, SC, who was the lawyer on the case, said his responsibility was to use the cold and arid principles of the law to bring justice. He said he had to reconstruct the pattern of consistent abuse which had been taking place over years through the periodic reports made to the police. He said the police began keeping electronic records which made the process easier.

He said in one incident, the police had to hold down the abuser because he had guns and knives, while in another incident, a report was made but the responsibility for dealing with the matter was passed between officers and never dealt with.

Mendes said in the last court hearing before Isaac was killed, she did not show up and the abusive partner told the magistrate that they had patched things up, so she adjourned the case.

“From the transcript, it is clear that he is admitting to the magistrate that he was threatening Samantha’s life, but he was saying, 'She was threatening my life, too.'

"At the end of the day, instead of adjourning and sending a notice to Samantha to tell her the case was adjourned, that was not done. We had the Domestic Violence Act that offered wonderful remedies to victims of abuse, but Samantha would not get the protection she was entitled to under the act.”

He said that was the scenario in which the question arose of whether or not the State was responsible for what happened to Samantha.

Adeola Young presents Attorney General Reginald Armour with a token of appreciation during the CADV and CAFRA TT seminar Centering Women in the State's Duty to Protect at the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago building, Frederick Street, Port of Spain, December 9. - Photo by Ayanna Kinsale

“The State was held responsible for its failure to act, failure to carry out its duty. The police officers failed to carry out the necessary investigations into the reports of violence.

"They failed to lay charges where appropriate against Samantha’s abusive partner, to respond to the threats against Samantha’s life. Translated into legal principles and legal duties, they failed. And this is what this case establishes as a matter of constitutional obligation. To carry out a risk assessment, a lethality assessment, to determine the level of risk: 'Is this person’s life in danger?' And that would determine what action they are to take.”

Mendes said the court accepted the submissions and the judge followed precedents set by courts worldwide. He commended the judge for putting forward the judgement.

Professor Rhoda Reddock presents attorney Douglas Mendes SC with a token of appreciation during the CADV and CAFRA TT seminar Centering Women in the State's Duty to Protect at the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago building, Frederick Street, Port of Spain, on December 9. - Photo by Ayanna Kinsale

LATT president Lynette Seebaran-Suite outlined some of the measures the association, along with other organisation, had done towards shepherding the 2020 amendments to the Domestic Violence Act.

She said those included:

• broadening the categories of applicants, although they had still not been able to persuade the legislature to include same-sex relationships;

• the introduction of lethality reports, which when they come on-stream, should be a tool to point out to police areas in which special vigilance is required to prevent femicides;

• the ability to have interim protection orders continue until the matter has come to an end, rather than having to be renewed after every adjournment;

• the ability for certain ranks of police officers to issue emergency protection orders;

• the automatic extension of protection orders to children;

• and the naming of new groups who must report domestic violence.

Some of the issues raised by audience members were technology-based gender-based violence, the need for a national education programme on domestic violence for men and boys, more support for victims, a batterer’s intervention programme, and an enquiry as to how the state would monitor the implementation of the outcome plan.