2020 election fraud trial: Tempers flare as defence attorney, prosecutor clash during cross-examination

It was another day of flared tempers on Wednesday when the trial in the 2020 elections fraud case resumed, with defence attorney Eusi Anderson and Special Prosecutor Darshan Ramdhan getting into a heated exchange during Anderson’s cross-examination of Supreme Court Registrar Sueann Lovell.
The trial continued before acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
The day’s proceedings saw the defence beginning cross-examination of Lovell after the remaining Statements of Recount (SoRs) from the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections were entered into evidence.
During his questioning Anderson continuously asked Lovell about the chain of custody, authenticity and security of the Statement of Polls (SoPs) and the SoRs that were handed over to her for safekeeping in January 2021. Lovell acknowledged that there were moments when she was away from her office or on leave but maintained that the security of the documents remained uncompromised during her absence.
The documents were secured in cabinets that were locked both with a key, as well as a combination code. Lovell stressed that as pertains to the combination, she was the only one with the code, and she shared it with no one.
“I made it up, and I didn’t share it with anybody,” Lovell stressed about the codes to the locks.
Nonetheless, Anderson continued to press about the resilience of the cabinets.
“The way the cabinets are constructed it’s seamless; you don’t see any joints,” Lovell replied when asked if it was possible to unscrew the cabinet or tamper with it using a crowbar.
Lovell has been the gatekeeper of the original SoPs and SoRs since the High Court ordered the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to transfer all original SoPs and SoRs from the 2020 elections to the custody of the High Court for safekeeping and as official evidence. The documents were delivered to the High Court by former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, in the presence of GECOM Chairperson Claudette Singh. Lowenfield is one of the defendants currently charged in the case.
The documents were ordered to be handed over given that the Representation of the Peoples Act (ROPA) allows the CEO to destroy all elections documents after a 12-month period has elapsed.
Anderson also hammered Lovell about steps taken to ascertain the authenticity of the documents received. However, it was noted that her instructions were to simply collect the documents handed over by the GECOM and to secure them. She underscored that the documents were not tampered with during her custody.
“Whatever I received from GECOM I kept. I didn’t add anything, I didn’t subtract anything; what I received I put in the cabinets, secured them, then brought them to court,” she noted.
The prosecution objected to Anderson’s line of questioning, which eventually resulted in an exchange between Anderson and Ramdhani, and Magistrate McGusty called the day’s proceeding to a close. The trial continues on Thursday.