Latest update April 28th, 2024 1:33 AM
Jan 03, 2015 News
Sixty-nine cases of murder, three cases of manslaughter, 14 for rape, four cases of rape of a child under 16, and six for carnal knowledge of girl under 15, were among the 103 cases that were heard by the Courts in 2014.
All told 140 cases were disposed of.
According to a release for the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), there were 30 convictions, 54 acquittals, ten hung jury trials, one quashed committal and two aborted trials.
The release also stated that there were two cases for the offence of wounding with intent, one case of unlawful wounding, three for robbery under arms, two attempt to commit murder, one for felonious wounding, four for buggery, one of causing grievous bodily harm, one for assault causing actual bodily harm, three of incest, one for the offence of sexual activity with a child family member, two of indecent assault and one case for attempt to commit a felony.
There were 30 convictions, 54 acquittals, 10 hung jury, one quashed committal, and two aborted trials. One unrepresented accused was sent back to prison after he indicated that he needed five years to prepare his defence.
Then there was a case in which one accused was ordered to be given a psychiatric evaluation after he was unresponsive to the court.
One accused was committed to the National Psychiatric Hospital for treatment until such time as he is fit to stand trial.
In two other murder cases, both accused were found to be unfit to stand trial and ordered to be given psychiatric treatment after which time, they should be reassessed to determine if they are fit to stand trial.
In one matter for the offence of carnal knowledge, the accused, who was out on bail failed to attend Court, and the judge issued an arrest warrant and his bail escheated.
But the release also revealed that a startling number of carnal knowledge cases were not prosecuted, either because the witnesses refused to testify or because the accused could not be found. In one case, the matter was dropped after the alleged victim married the accused.
Demerara October 2014 Criminal Assizes
The release noted that 25 of 226 cases were heard during the Demerara October 2014 Criminal Assizes, which ended on December 19, last with jail delivery being done by Madam Justice Dawn Gregory.
The presiding judges were Justice Brassington Reynolds, Madame Justice Dawn Gregory and Justice Navindra Singh.
Of the 25 matters heard during the Demerara October 2014 Criminal Assizes, 16 were presented in the High Court of Demerara during the Demerara October 2014 Criminal Assizes. Seven of the 16 cases were completed by Justice Reynolds, three were completed by Madame Justice Gregory and six by Justice Singh.
Of the seven trials that were presented before Justice Reynolds, six were for the offence of murder and one for the offence of manslaughter. One murder accused, who had two separate court appearances before Justice Reynolds, was committed to the National Psychiatric Hospital for treatment until such time that he is fit to stand trial.
One other murder accused was sentenced to death by Justice Reynolds, while a third accused was acquitted.
The jury in one other murder trial failed to reach a verdict and the accused was sent back to prison to await a new trial.
In two other separate trials, one for the offence of murder and the other for the lesser offence of manslaughter, both accused were acquitted after the trial judge upheld no case submissions and directed the jury to return formal verdicts of not guilty.
Madame Justice Dawn Gregory completed three murder cases. In two of these cases, the accused were acquitted after the jury returned unanimous verdicts of not guilty.
The accused in the other matter was also acquitted after the trial judge upheld a no case submission, and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.
Six murder cases were presented before Justice Navindra Singh. Of these six matters, there were five guilty verdicts and one acquittal.
In three of the five cases the accused were respectively sentenced to 83 years imprisonment.
In the fourth matter, where there were two accused persons, the number one accused was sentenced to 66 years’ imprisonment, while the number two accused was sentenced to 50 years’ imprisonment.
In the fifth case, Justice Singh sentenced the murder accused to 66 years’ imprisonment after the jury returned a guilty verdict, while in a sixth trial, four murder accused were all acquitted after the jury returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty.
The Director of Public Prosecutions nolle prosequi (cancelled prosecution) nine matters during this time.
These included one murder case and eight carnal knowledge cases.
“In the eight matters for the offence of carnal knowledge of girl under 15, one virtual complainant indicated in writing that she no longer wished to proceed with the matter.
The whereabouts of four other virtual complainants remained unknown, while three others failed to attend Court,” the release stated.
“The accused in one murder matter died in prison while awaiting his trial.”
Berbice Criminal Assizes
The Berbice Criminal Assizes opened on October 21, before Justice James Bovell-Drakes, who commenced three matters; two for the offence of murder and one for the offence of carnal knowledge.
In one murder charge, the accused pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter and was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment. The other murder case was aborted after the number three juror reported to the Court that the daughter and the sister of the two accused had visited her work place and had told her that their father and brother were innocent of the charge.
As a result, the Defence Counsel indicated that they believed the juror and that it was prejudicial to both the Defence and the State.
This is the second time this charge is being aborted because of allegations of a person speaking to a juror.
The accused in the matter for the offence of carnal knowledge did not attend court after the jury was empanelled and Justice Bovell-Drakes issued an arrest warrant for the accused, before he discharged the jury.
The October 2014 Berbice Criminal Assizes continues until February 5, 2015.
Essequibo Criminal Assizes
Meanwhile, the Essequibo Criminal Assizes commenced on October 28, 2014 with Justice Franklin Holder, who completed three cases.
Of these three cases, two were for the offence of murder and one for the offence of rape of a child under 16.
In one of these two murder trials, the accused was acquitted after the jury found him not guilty and in the other, the two accused were each sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment after the jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty.
The virtual complainant in the matter for the offence of rape of a child under 16 testified that she no longer wished to offer any evidence against the accused as they are now married.
Justice Holder directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty. The Essequibo October 2014 Criminal Assizes continues until February 16, 2015.
The January 2015 Assizes for Demerara will be opened on January 13, next. There are 213 cases listed to be heard during the session. Justice Navindra Singh, Justice Franklin Holder and Justice James Bovell-Drakes have been rostered to sit during this assizes.
Meanwhile, the February 2015 Berbice Criminal Assizes will commence on Tuesday, February 17, 2015, before Justice Brassington Reynolds, who will commence sitting in January 2015.
The February 2015 Criminal Assizes for Essequibo will open on Tuesday February 3, 2015 before Madame Justice Sandra Kurtzious.
“During 2014 we appeared in 50 matters in the Court of Appeal. There are five applications pending for Notices of Hearing of Appeals,” the DPP release stated.
Nineteen appeals were dismissed and six matters were rejected. Of these six appellants, two died while awaiting their appeals to be heard, while the four other appellants and their defence counsel made no court appearance.
Ten Applications of Notice to Withdraw were granted while three appeals were struck out by the Court. Two appellants had their applications for bail refused and one other Application for Extension of Time to file the Notice of Appeal was granted.
The Court allowed two appeals. In one of these matters, the appellant had three separate Court hearings. The first application was refused, while at a second hearing, the Court granted him bail in the sum of $150,000 with surety in like sum.
At the third hearing, the court granted his appeal and ordered a new trial by another magistrate. The appellant in the one other matter had his conviction and sentence set aside.
In the Demerara Full Court five matters were heard during 2014 before Chief Justice Ian Chang sitting either with Justice Rishi Persaud and Justice Navindra Singh. In one matter, the application by the defence to withdraw and discontinue the matter was withdrawn.
In two other matters, the Applications for Extension of Time to file the Notice of Appeal were granted while one Application for extension of time was dismissed.
One matter was struck out by the Court because there was no appearance by counsel for the appellant.
The Berbice Full Court heard three matters before Chief Justice Ian Chang sitting with Justice Navindra Singh. In one matter, the Full Court found that it was the wrong Court to hear the appeal and transferred the matter to the Court of Appeal. Two other Appeals were dismissed.
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