Former Minister of State driver acquitted of traffic offense
There is another acquittal though for a lesser offence to report tonight. Back in May 2010, the wife of the then Minister of State in the Ministry of Human Development Juan Coy, was killed in a traffic accident in the area of Indian Creek Village. Juan and his wife, Brigida, were traveling along with Venancio Salam, who was driving his government vehicle, a Nissan Navarro pickup truck. The vehicle suffered a blowout and overturned. Brigida died shortly after the accident. The former minister of state and Salam sustained various injuries and were airlifted to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. Following Salam’s release, he was charged with Manslaughter. But that charge was reduced to Causing Death by Careless Conduct. Salam was tried today in the courtroom of Justice Denis Hanomansingh, who acquitted him of the charge. Salam, who was a police officer at the time of the accident, is the brother-in-law of Juan Coy.