14 of 174 matters completed at Berbice, E’bo Criminal Assizes

A total of 72 cases were listed for trial when the Essequibo Criminal Assizes commenced on May 18. However, only eight of them were completed before Justices Navindra Singh, Simone Morris-Ramlall, and Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the High Court in Suddie.

Five of the eight matters were presented before Justice Singh. Three of the five cases were for the offence of murder, while the other two were for manslaughter. In one of the manslaughter cases, the trial judge upheld a no-case submission and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.
In the other manslaughter case, two accused were jointly indicted.
While one of them pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, the other accused was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to life imprisonment. In two of the three murder matters, the accused persons pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter.
One of these cases had three accused. They were respectively sentenced to 20-, 17-, and 15-years’ imprisonment. In the other case, two accused persons were indicted together and they were both found not guilty by the jury.
Justice Morris-Ramlall presided over two matters, one of which involved two persons who were indicted on 10 counts of manslaughter. They were both acquitted by jury verdicts. The other case was for the offence of attempt to commit murder with an alternative count of felonious wounding for which the jury found that the accused was guilty. He will be sentenced on October 26.
Meanwhile, one matter for the offence of rape was completed before Justice Sewnarine-Beharry. The jury in this matter returned a majority verdict for the accused who was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment. The Essequibo Criminal Assizes remains in progress up to October 25.
The Berbice Criminal Assizes commenced on June 15 with 102 cases listed to be heard. Only six matters were completed before Justices Jo Ann Barlow and Brassington Reynolds. Five of the matters were for the offence of murder, and the other, for the offence of rape of a child under 16 years.
Two of these murder matters were done before Justice Barlow. In one of them, the trial Judge upheld a no-case submission and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty. In the other matter, the accused pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The other three murder cases and the lone sexual offence matter were prosecuted before Justice Reynolds. One of the accused in the three murder matters pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Another accused was acquitted after the trial Judge upheld a no-case submission. The jury in the other matter found the accused not guilty for the offence of murder and returned hung on the lesser count of manslaughter. This accused was granted bail in the sum of $500,000.
In the sexual offence matter, the complainant testified that she did not wish to proceed with the evidence, and as such, the trial Judge directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty. The Essequibo Criminal Assizes continues up until today.
The Berbice October Criminal Assizes with 104 cases listed to be heard will commence on Tuesday before Justice Sandil Kissoon, while the Essequibo assizes will begin on October 26 before Justice Sewnarine-Beharry with 84 cases listed to be tried. (G1)