Bodybuilder walks free as DPP withdraws charge

Sep 08, 2009 News

Freed murder accused 22-year-old, Armin Griffith and his father Aubrey, moments after walking out of court at their lawyer

in GPL Security Officer killing

After spending some four months and two days behind bars at the Camp Street Prison, for a crime he did not commit, 22-year-old body builder, Armin Griffith, walked out of the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court yesterday, a free man.

Griffith was charged on May 9 last, for the murder of Guyana Power and Light Chief Security Officer, Clifford Peters.
In court last Thursday, Griffith and his lawyer Basil Williams were informed that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had ordered that the charge be withdrawn.
This was so since an employee of GPL gave a written statement to the police which was subsequently sent to the DPP’s office, stating that Griffith was not the person he pointed out during the identification parade.
The matter came to an end yesterday.
Speaking to this newspaper while at his lawyer’s office, Griffith who was evidently overjoyed said he was not surprised that the charge was dropped since he knew from the inception that he was innocent and God would have answered his prayers.
Griffith stressed that nothing could compensate him for the four months he was behind bars but he was nevertheless thankful to be free from confinement.
“I won’t advise anyone to get in trouble with the law to end up in Camp Street, but then again you don’t have to do anything and still you can end up there,” Griffith said.
He added that he would not have been robbed of his freedom had the police conducted a proper investigation.
“If the police had done a proper investigation this would not have happened, only God knows how many other innocent people are behind bars because the police want to score points with the public,” Griffith related thoughtfully.

PRISON IS NO PLACE FOR ANYONE
Speaking of his experience while incarcerated, Griffith said he was mostly confined to his ‘bed space’ most of the days.
He recalled the only happy times for him while in prison were the twice weekly visits, when his parents would come to see him. Griffith admitted that many days he would sit in his cell and break down into tears because of his frustration.
“People would see me crying, but they had no idea what I was going through while in there…I was taking on a lot because I knew I was nowhere around when the incident took place,” Griffith said.
He noted that the only times he really got to see significant daylight was during his court appearance dates, as very rarely would he be allowed to go into the yard since he was considered ‘High profile’ .
Now that he has been freed, Griffith said he plans to go back to life as normal and continue his modeling and cricket careers.
In addition, Griffith said he will continue a computer graphics course which was cut short because of his period of imprisonment.
The young man expressed the hope that his future plans are not affected by the false charge which was laid against him.
Also speaking to this publication, Griffith’s father, Aubrey, said his entire family was thankful that his son had been cleared of the charge and could finally go on with his life.
The older Griffith said he remains grateful for the unwavering public support throughout his family’s ordeal.
Aubrey Griffith also called for law enforcement officials to conduct proper investigations, so as to avoid placing innocent people behind bars.
On May 4, last, Clifford Peters and other employees were engaged in an exercise removing illegal connections in Sophia when one of Peters’ colleagues, Allan Savory, got into a confrontation with two men. An argument developed and Savory called out to Peters who intervened and was shot multiple times by one of the men. The men, according to the police, escaped with Peters’ licensed revolver.
Griffith was picked up that same day and kept at the Turkeyen Police Station for a traffic offence but was subsequently transferred to the Brickdam Police Station.
While there, Griffith was told to go on an identification parade.
“From the time they took me to Brickdam I knew it was trouble, I would never advise anybody to go on an ID parade, because the police just charge you with no evidence and there goes your freedom,” Griffith lamented.
Meanwhile, another man, 28-year-old Paul James, who was also charged for Peters’ murder, is still on trial.
Griffith’s lawyer, Basil Williams, who has insisted all along that his client was innocent, said he was thankful for the justice system in this case.
“We knew all along that Armin was innocent and the justice system has actually come through,” Williams said.