24 of 354 cases completed at April Demerara Criminal Assizes

The April Demerara Criminal Assizes commenced on the fifth day of that month with a total of 354 cases listed to be heard and ended on June 6.
Of these cases, only 24 were completed – 15 of them were presented at the Demerara High Court while the other nine were noll prosequi by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Justices Sandil Kissoon, Priya Sewnarine-Beharry, and Jo-Ann Barlow sat during this Assizes.
Of the 15 matters presented, seven were for the offence of murder and eight for sexual offences. There were two formal verdicts of not guilty, three guilty verdicts by jury, five not guilty verdicts, and eight guilty pleas. A total of 18 accused persons appeared in these matters.
Senior State Counsel Lisa Cave in association with State Counsel Latifah Elliot and State Counsel Marissa Edwards completed four cases for the offence of murder before Justice Barlow.
In one case, the trial Judge upheld a no-case submission and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty. In another two cases, the accused both pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and were respectively sentenced to six years and seven months’ imprisonment and six years and four months’ imprisonment. And in the one other case, there were three accused persons indicted together. The jury acquitted all three with verdicts of not guilty for the capital offence of murder and the lesser count of manslaughter. Meanwhile, in the Sexual Offences Court, State Counsel Caressa Henry, State Counsel Cicelia Corbin, and State Counsel Paneeta Persaud prosecuted eight matters before Justice Sewnarine- Beharry. In two of these matters the accused were found not guilty by jury verdicts. In another three matters, the jury returned guilty verdicts for the accused, and while one was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment, the other two are awaiting their sentence. In the other three cases, the accused all pleaded guilty as charged. One accused was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment after the court made deductions for time spent on remand. The other two accused are awaiting sentencing. Senior State Counsel Abigail Gibbs together with State Counsel Muntaz Ali and State Counsel Taneisha Saygon completed three cases for the offence of murder before Justice Kissoon. In one case, the trial Judge ruled that the prosecution was not in a position to establish a prima facie case against the accused person and as such directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty. In the two other cases, the accused both pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter; they are awaiting sentencing. In addition, the nine cases nolle prosequi were for sexual offences in which the complainants submitted written statements of their desire not to proceed with the matters.