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Feb 06, 2016 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News
Justice Navindra Singh is expected to sum up the trial for which Orin Jerrick is facing a murder charge for
Plaisance minibus driver, Gavin Fiffee. Following the summing up, the case will be handed over to the jury for deliberation on an outcome.
The father of two, 31, was fatally stabbed in the vicinity of the Plaisance minibus park, on July 31, 2014.
Initial reports had indicated that on the day in question, the driver had been loading his minibus at the Plaisance bus park when another man began urinating on the wheel of the vehicle. This angered passengers and when Fiffee confronted the man, an argument ensued.
At some point during the argument the man allegedly stabbed the bus driver to the upper right chest.
Fiffee, of 93 Sideline Dam, Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara, (ECD) was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Jerrick was identified as a suspect in the case and charged with the murder. His trial began at the Georgetown High Court following the selection of a mixed 12-member jury, on Monday.
Yesterday, Attorneys for the defence and the prosecution submitted closing arguments after the accused elected to give an unsworn statement from the prisoners’ dock. In an almost inaudible tone, Jerrick stuttered that he will be relying on the statement which he gave to the police at his arrest.
In his closing arguments, Jerrick’s Attorney, Nigel Hughes, relayed information contained in the statement. Hughes is representing the accused in association with Attorneys Peter Hugh and Savannah Barnwell.
According to the statement which the lawyer read, the accused claimed that he was attacked by a group
of armed persons after he was found urinating behind a minibus at Plaisance Park on July 31, 2014.
In the type written statement, which Jerrick handed over to the police after he visited the station in the presence of his Attorney, he also claimed that it was only after he was attacked and persons began pulling a gold chain that he was wearing at the time that he retaliated in an effort to defend himself.
Hughes pointed out that based on the testimonies provided by police witnesses absolutely no one saw what really took place or who stabbed Fiffee.
“There isn’t a single witness to say exactly how the wound was inflicted.” Hughes stated firmly.
He noted, too, that the witnesses were not certain of the identity of the person who might have stabbed Fiffee.
The Attorney charged the jury not to embrace the idea that whenever the police charge someone it means that they had done something wrong or are guilty of the allegations leveled against them.
However in her closing submissions, State Prosecutor Narissa Leander was emphatic in her argument that the accused never denied his involvement in the murder and that he placed himself at the scene of the crime by his own admission and statement.
“He handed over that statement to the police ladies and gentlemen of the Jury,” Leander underscored.
Prior to the closing addresses, Government Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh also testified in the trial. Dr. Singh told the court that based on his examination on the body of the deceased, Fiffee died as a result of perforation of the lung due to a stab wound.
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