Georgetown: Some 213 cases are listed to be heard when the Demerara January 2015 Criminal Assizes commences on January 13, at the High Court.
Justice Navindra Singh, Justice Franklin Holder and Justice James Bovell-Drakes will be presiding over this assizes. The Demerara October 2014 Criminal Assizes ended on December 19, 2014 when the Gaol Delivery was done by Justice Dawn Gregory. During this session, Justice Brassington Reynolds, Madam Justice Dawn Gregory and Justice Navindra Singh shared the list of 226 cases that were listed to be heard.
A total of 25 matters engaged the court’s attention during the Demerara October 2014 Assizes. Of this, 16 matters were presented in the High Court; seven of which were completed by Justice Reynolds, three by Justice Gregory and six by Justice Singh.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Hack nolle prosequi (no longer prosecute) nine matters during this time also. Of the seven trials that were presented before Justice Reynolds, six of them were for the offence of murder and one for the offence of manslaughter. One of the 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.
Another murder accused was sentenced to death by Justice Reynolds after he was found guilty by the jury while a third murder accused was acquitted by the jury for both the offence of murder and for the lesser offence of manslaughter in a verdict proportion of 11 not guilty to one guilty.
The jury in another murder trial failed to reach a verdict and the accused was sent back to prison to await a new trial. Meanwhile, 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.
The three matters heard by Justice Dawn Gregory were for the offence of murder. 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 presiding judge up held a no case submission and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.
Six cases for the offence of murder were presented before Justice Navindra Singh. Of these, there were five guilty verdicts and one acquittal. In three of the five cases, the accused were all respectively sentenced to 83 years imprisonment. In the fourth matter, there were two co-accused. The first defendant was sentenced to 66 years imprisonment while his co-accused was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment. The fifth case saw the accused being sentenced to 66 years imprisonment by Justice Singh after the jury returned a guilty verdict. In the remaining murder trial, four murder accused were acquitted after the jury returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty.
The nine matters that were nolle prosequi by the DPP during this period were eight cases of carnal knowledge and one for murder. In the eight matters for the offence of carnal knowledge of girls under the age of 15, one Virtual Complainant (VC) indicated in writing that she no longer wished to proceed with the matter. The whereabouts of four other VCs were unknown while three other VC’s failed to attend court. The accused in the murder matter died while in prison awaiting his trial.
Meanwhile, during this time, the Berbice Criminal Assizes opened on October 21, 2014, with Justice James Bovell-Drakes presiding. He commenced three matters, two for the offence of murder and one for the offence of carnal knowledge.
In one of the murder cases, the accused pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment. The other murder case was aborted by the judge after Juror number three reported to the court that the daughter and the sister of the two accused had visited her work place and 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 it was prejudicial to both the defence and the State. This is the second time this case was aborted after 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 Session will continue until February 2, after which the February Criminal Assizes will commence on February 3, before Justice Brassington Reynolds who will commence sitting in January 2015.
On the other hand, the Essequibo Criminal Assizes commenced on October 28, 2014, with Justice Franklin Holder presiding and completed three cases, two of which were for the offence of murder and the other for the offence of rape of a child under the age of 16 years.
One of the murder cases saw the accused being acquitted after the jury found him not guilty and the other case resulted in the two accused being sentenced to 20 years imprisonment each, after the jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty. The VC in the matter for rape of a child under the age of 16 years testified that she no longer wished to offer any evidence against her accuser as they are now married and the trial judge directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty. The Essequibo October 2014 Criminal Assizes continues until February 16. Justice Sandra Kurtzious will be presiding over the February 2015 Criminal Assizes in Essequibo opening on February 17, however, she will commence sitting from January this year.
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