Eighteen of 233 cases heard for Criminal Assizes in the High Court

Georgetown: Eighteen matters were completed during the Demerara January 2014 Criminal Assizes in the High Court of Demerara. Of these 18 matters, 16 of them were presented and two of them were nolle prosequi in writing by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Of these 16 matters presented, there were a total of eleven verdicts and five pleas. For the eleven matters where there were verdicts, there was one guilty verdict, eight not guilty verdicts and two hung jury verdicts.
Delivery was done on Friday March 28th, 2014, bringing to an end the January 2014 Criminal Assizes which commenced on Wednesday 15th January, 2014. The Demerara January 2014 Assizes was presided over by four judges: Justice Franklin Holder, Justice William Ramlall, Justice James Bovell-Drakes and Justice Navindra Singh. A total of 233 cases were listed to be heard during the Assizes.
Five accused who were indicted for murder pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter.
Justice Franklin Holder completed five matters. Of these, four were for the offence of murder and one was for the offence of rape. In two of the murder trials, the accused pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and were sentenced to 18 years and 10 years imprisonment respectively. ln a third murder matter, the accused was acquitted after the jury returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty of murder and not guilty of manslaughter. In a fourth murder trial, the two accused were ordered to face a retrial after the jury returned with a split decision of six guilty and six not guilty.
The accused in the rape trial was acquitted after the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.
At the same time, Justice William Ramlall disposed of three matters also for the offence of murder. In all three matters, the trial Judge upheld no case submissions and directed the jury to return formal verdicts of not guilty. In one of these matters in which two accused were indicted for the offence of murder, the charge against the number one accused was discontinued by the Director of Public Prosecutions because of insufficient evidence.
Meanwhile, in the one Murder trial before Justice James Bovell-Drakes, the accused was ordered to face a retrial after the jury returned a hung jury verdict. The case was first tried in October 2013.
Justice Navindra Singh disposed of seven cases for the offence of murder in which there were four guilty verdicts and three not guilty verdicts. In the first murder trial, the accused was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment after the jury returned a guilty verdict for the lesser offence of manslaughter.
In three other murder trials in which the accused pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter, two of these accused were sentenced to ten years imprisonment, while a third accused was sentenced to a total of 47 years imprisonment on two counts of murder, each being 21 years and 26 years respectively.
In three other murder cases, the accused were acquitted after Justice Singh upheld no case submissions and directed the jury to return formal verdicts of not guilty.
During the Demerara January 2014 Criminal Assizes, the DPP nolle prosequi two matters. One of these was for the offence of murder where there was insufficient evidence to continue with the prosecution, and the other matter was for the offence of carnal knowledge of a girl under 15 years, in which the victim indicated by way of a statement that she did not wish to proceed with the matter.
Meanwhile, at the Essequibo Criminal Assizes, five matters were completed. Four of them were presented before Justice Nareshwar Harnanan and one was nolle prosequi in writing by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Of these four matters, three were for the offence of murder and one was for the offence of carnal knowledge of a girl between fifteen and sixteen.
In two of the three murder trials, the accused were acquitted. In the third murder trial, a formal not guilty verdict was returned by the jury after the father of the deceased informed the Court that he did not wish to give evidence and did not wish to proceed with the trial.
In the one matter for the offence of carnal knowledge of a girl under fifteen years, the accused was acquitted after the jury returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty.
During the Essequibo January 2014 Criminal Assizes, the DPP nolle prosequi one matter for the offence
of carnal knowledge of a girl under fifteen because the virtual complainant indicated that she did not wish to proceed with the matter as she has migrated.
During the same time, the Berbice October 2013 Criminal Assizes continued with Madam Justice Diana
Insanally completing three matters for the offence of murder. One accused pleaded guilty to the lesser
offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to ten years imprisonment.
In the other two murder trials, one accused was found to be unfit to stand trial and was sent to the
National Psychiatric Hospital for psychiatric treatment for six months, after which he is to be examined
to determine whether he can stand trial. In the other matter. Justice lnsanally ordered that the accused
be taken back to prison based on evidence taken from a medical doctor that he was unstable, non-cooperative
and delusional. She directed the jury to return a formal verdict that the accused is insane and unfit to stand trial and ordered that the accused be treated for three months after which he should
be re-assessed to determine if he is fit to stand trial.
The Berbice February 2014 Criminal Assizes commenced on February 4th and is currently in progress. So far, one matter for the offence of murder has been presented and completed before Madam Justice
Diana Insanally. The accused pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment. Another charge for the offence of murder is presently in progress.