150 cases struck from criminal backlog last year

At the end of 2017, the backlog of criminal cases in the High Court system was reduced by 150 cases. Those were disposed of by the Chamber of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), with 122 of them receiving attention in court while 28 cases were nolle prosequi (not prosecuted).
Of those 122 cases, 73 were presented in the Demerara Assizes, while 24 were from the Berbice Assizes and 25 were from the Essequibo Assizes.
There were 64 cases for murder; two cases for the offence of manslaughter; 29 cases for rape of a child under 16 years; eight cases of attempting to commit murder; nine cases of rape; seven cases of sexual activity with a child family member; and one case each for the offences of carnal knowledge of a girl under 15 years, setting fire to a public building, and abduction.
These cases resulted in a total of 48 guilty pleas; 23 not guilty verdicts by jury; six hung juries; 25 convictions; 27 formal verdicts of not guilty, and four 4 aborted trials.
In the 122 cases that were prosecuted, there were 145 accused persons, of whom 48 pleaded guilty; 25 of them were convicted; formal verdicts of not guilty were delivered in relation to 27 of these. Additionally, there were also 23 not guilty verdicts by jury, six hung verdicts, and four aborted trials.
The Criminal Assizes for Demerara will open on Tuesday January 9 with a total of 229 cases listed to be heard during the session. Justice Navindra Singh, Justice James Bovell-Drakes and Madam Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall have been rostered to sit during this assizes.
Meanwhile, the Essequibo Criminal Assizes is expected to open on February 6, 2018. In the meantime, Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry continues the October Assizes. The February Berbice Criminal Assizes will then commence on February 13, 2018. In the meantime, the October 2017 criminal session there will also continue before Madam Justice Jo-Ann Barlow.
During 2017, the DPP Chamber appeared in 66 matters in the Court of Appeal. In those cases, the State was represented by acting Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DDPP) Sonia Joseph, Assistant DPP Dionne McCammon; Assistant DPP Diana Kaulessar-0Brien, Assistant DPP Teshana Lake, Senior State Counsel Mercedes Glasford, Senior State Counsel Natasha Backer, Senior State Counsel Stacy Goodings and State Counsel Shawnette Austin.
Of those 66 matters, four appellants were allowed their appeals and had their convictions and sentences set aside. Another four appellants withdrew their applications for bail pending their appeal, while four other appellants were refused their applications for bail, and five appellants were granted their applications for bail pending their appeal.
In addition, one appellant withdrew his application for extension of time to file his notice of appeal. The Court of Appeal struck out eight cases, while one matter was deemed abandoned because no grounds of appeal were filed.
Moreover, five appellants were granted leave to file and serve their Notices of Appeal. Fourteen other appellants were allowed in part to appeal against their convictions and sentences; their convictions were affirmed but their sentences were substituted with fines.
Another appellant had his charge for the offence of murder substituted with the lesser offence of manslaughter, and a 16-year sentence was imposed; while one other appellant had his prison sentence of 25 years reduced to 24 years. An additional eight matters were adjourned.
Meanwhile, five matters were withdrawn by the appellants, three of which were by the State. Two matters were referred to the Court of Appeal for its opinion, while one application to appeal against conviction and sentence was denied. Another one appellant was allowed his application to file notice for extension of time to appeal, and his case will be done de novo. One other remaining applicant was refused his application for extension of time to file and serve notice of appeal against his conviction.
On the other hand, some 11 matters were heard in the Demerara Full Court during the course of 2017. Appearing for the State in these matters were: Assistant DPP Teshana Lake, Senior State Counsel Natasha Backer, Senior State Counsel Mercedes Glasford, and Senior State Counsel Stacy Goodings.
Of these 11 matters, three appellants were granted time to file grounds of appeal; two matters were dismissed; one appellant was granted his application to file Notice of Appeal; two other appellants withdrew their applications to appeal; while another two appellants had their applications to appeal against their sentence dismissed, and one application for bail pending appeal was dismissed.
Furthermore, State Counsel Tuanna Hardy appeared before the Berbice Full Court, where three matters were heard during 2017. One appellant was allowed his appeal in part, while another one appellant was allowed his application to appeal against his conviction and sentence because the Court found he was charged under the wrong section for the offence of threatening behaviour. One other application to appeal against a conviction and sentence was struck out, and the conviction and sentence affirmed.