2020 election fraud case: Prosecution, defense lawyer clash over interrogation methods used on witness

The cross-examination of election fraud case witness and Head of the Diaspora Unit, Rosalinda Rasul, by the defence continued on Tuesday. However, the session was interrupted several times by clashes between the prosecution and the defence over the methods used in the cross-examination.
Rasul was an election observer for American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham)-Guyana, during the contentious events that followed the 2020 General and Regional elections. She was thus subjected to a stream of questions by Attorney-at-Law Eusi Anderson, who on behalf of the defence questioned the chain of custody of the Statements of Poll (SOP).

Specifically, Anderson questioned whether the observers were left unsupervised with these documents while at the Ashmins Building for the tabulation, implying that this is when they could have been altered. To this, Rasul pointed out that staff from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) were usually in the room too.
However, on the prosecution side Attorney-at-Law Latchmie Rahamat, objected over Anderson’s commentary between questions, describing them as aggressive. Rahamat and Anderson further butted heads after the Attorney made commentary to infer that Rasul was being coached on what to say.
Rahamat immediately raised objections and acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty ordered that Anderson’s comments be struck from the record. Anderson meanwhile went on to question Rasul’s work experience, the jobs she currently holds and even going so far as to ask her what her salary was.

The Chief Magistrate asked Rasul to exit the courtroom and the two sides then debated the merits of having the witness disclose her salary on a public forum, with the prosecution pointing out the obvious safety risk.
When Anderson attempted to ask Rasul questions pertaining to her Terms of Reference as an election observer, Kings Counsel Darshan Ramdhani objected to the defence’s attempt to interrogate a witness on documents not entered into evidence. The court eventually adjourned for lunch, after which it resumed for the remainder of the afternoon during which Anderson resumed his line of questioning of Rasul.
On Monday, Rasul had been questioned by defence counsel about her role as an independent and neutral election observer and the events that took place at the Ashmins building, which was the command centre.
Meanwhile, a date is yet to be determined for attorneys to visit the Ashmins building, where Rasul will identify and highlight areas referenced in her testimony. In their proposal for the site visit to be conducted on Friday March 21, 2025, the defence requested that no restrictions be placed on what can be admitted as evidence.

Nine persons are before the court in this case, which pertains to the March 2020 General and Regional Elections. They include former Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo; former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield and his former Deputy, Roxanne Myers. Also charged are former People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Chairperson Volda Lawrence; PNCR activist Carol Smith-Joseph; and GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Michelle Miller and Denise Babb-Cummings.
Together, these nine defendants confront 33 counts of election-related fraud, focused on alleged efforts to manipulate voting results. Initially overseen by Senior Magistrate Leron Daly, the trial began in July 2024, but was paused following her extended medical leave, which has resulted in the trial being reassigned to Magistrate McGusty.
When the matter was called on December 8, 2024, the defence had pressed for a fresh start to the already delayed trial. On the other hand, the prosecution had argued that a restart of the case was completely unnecessary and that all the court needed to do was to recall the previous witnesses. Ultimately, however, McGusty had ordered a restart in the election fraud trial.