Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
May 16, 2019 News
State Prosecutors and defence counsel presented closing arguments yesterday in the trial of 22-year-old Jonathan Budhan who is accused of
the October 25, 2016 murder of Ramesh Manbodh.
Budhan, of Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara, has pleaded not guilty to the charge. He is on trial before Justice Navindra Singh and a 12-member jury at the High Court in Georgetown.
According to reports, Budhan fatally beat Manbodh, 40, of Lot 655 Best Village, West Coast Demerara on October 20, 2016 with a cricket bat. After being admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital, Manbodh died five days later. It was reported that Budhan was on the run and later turned himself over to police.
Prosecutors Abigail Gibbs, Teriq Mohamed and Tuanna Hardy are presenting the State’s case, while Attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes is appearing for the murder accused.
During a lengthy submission yesterday, Hughes went at length to persuade the jury on why his client should be found not guilty of the crime.
First off, Hughes pointed out what he viewed as several weaknesses in the prosecution’s case and asked the jury to consider the defence of one’s self (self-defence) when retiring to deliberate on a verdict. According to the lawyer, Manbodh was in the habit of taunting Budhan. Hughes said that the evidence shows that on the day in question, Manbodh called his client an “anti-man” and there after attempted to attack him.
The lawyer added that the law provides that one can use reasonable force to defend themselves. He said Manbodh attempted to pull out something from his waist, when his client lashed him to the head with the cricket bat. However, Prosecutor Hardy said that this case is not one of self-defence. She said that it was clear that Budhan wanted to kill Manbodh who was unarmed.
According to the prosecutor, Budhan had to have lashed the now dead man with great force, as the post mortem report showed he died from blunt trauma to the head. She said that Budhan used “too much force, excessive force.” She, nevertheless, urged the jury to return a verdict in accordance with the evidence.
Justice Singh will sum up the evidence tomorrow, and direct the jury on the law before sending them to deliberate.
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