The 20-year jail sentence imposed on Clevon Romeo for the October 24, 2012 murder of businessman Herman Ramnarine of Lima, Essequibo Coast was on Wednesday affirmed by the Guyana Court of Appeal.
In 2014, a 12-person jury had found Romeo guilty of killing the 56-year-old businessman, and Romeo was sentenced to 20 years in prison by Justice Franklyn Holder at the Suddie High Court. Through his lawyer, Romeo later filed an appeal, asking the court to set aside and/or reverse his conviction and sentence.
Clarification/correction
During a recent court hearing, defence counsel Dexter Todd informed the court that there were some challenges with this matter, and proffered the court an apology.
Murdered: Herman Ramnarine
He said that at some time in 2015 or 2016, his services were terminated by Romeo’s family, and they had taken all the statements in the file.
According to the lawyer, when he received the record of appeal from the court, he began making attempts to contact the convict’s family to ascertain whether they had retained a new lawyer for the case, and how the matter would be proceeded with.
“I was not able to reach the family…I heard from a relative in the community that there might be some financial challenges…” Todd informed the court.
Todd has nevertheless said he is prepared to assist Romeo in whatever way he could, and has asked the court for two weeks to file submissions.
Based on those submissions, Guyana Times previously reported, Todd told the court that efforts made to contact Romeo’s lawyers for legal fees have proven futile.
However, what the lawyer submitted was that he was attempting to make contact with the family to get directions on how they would proceed with the matter.
State Prosecutor Natasha Bakker asked that the appeal be dismissed on the basis that a Notice of Abandonment/Withdrawal of appeal was contained in the records.
“I’m now being made aware that there is such a record,” Todd said in reply, adding that there is not much that counsel can do concerning the Notice of Abandonment. He, therefore, asked the court for an order that the 20-year sentence would take effect from the date of conviction in 2014.
Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, in dismissing the appeal, said Romeo’s sentence would be reduced to reflect the time he spent on remand awaiting trial. In so doing, Justice Cummings-Edwards cited a ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in the case of Romeo Da Cost Hall v The Queen, in which the regional court held that full credit should be granted for the time an accused person had spent in pre-trial custody.
The Appeal Court further ordered that the sentence would take effect from the date of conviction. In the end, the court dismissed the appeal, affirming the conviction and sentence.
According to reports, Ramnarine was found lying motionless in his home by his wife, who had managed to free herself after she was tied up by armed bandits. The man had injuries to his head, and was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
It was reported that the woman was at home when she was confronted by two men, one of whom was armed with a cutlass. Police, in a statement, had said the men took away an undisclosed sum of cash and a quantity of jewellery before fleeing.
