3 men freed after 11 years in jail on murder charge

After spending more than a decade incarcerated for the capital offence of murder, three men accused of robbing and killing a 26-year-old man back in 2012 have been set free.

Ray Yokum, Steffon Campbell, and Faisal Moore had been on trial for allegedly murdering Glen Xavier, during the course/furtherance of a robbery on May 9, 2012, at the Cornbread Mini Mart at D’Urban and Lime Streets, Georgetown.
They were freed on Monday after the trial Judge Simone Morris-Ramlall concluded that the prosecution presented “absolutely no evidence of identification of the deceased”.
This, she noted, was an important element to prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.
While addressing the court on the evidence, the Judge said a legal issue had arisen in relation to the identification of Xavier’s corpse on which a post-mortem examination was conducted.
This caused her to request submissions from both the defence and prosecution.
In an attempt to discharge its obligation, the Judge said the prosecution called Randolph Nedd, a friend of Xavier, who had testified to taking the now dead man to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on May 9, 2012, after he came about his injuries.
But this witness did not provide a description of his friend whether by ethnicity or otherwise, noted the trial Judge. To bolster its case, she said the prosecution also led evidence from a Police rank who told the court that he was present at the GPHC when the remains of Xavier were “pointed out” to him. However, in examining this witness’s evidence, Justice Morris-Ramlall noted, “He did not indicate who pointed out the body to him. And even if he did so, that evidence would be hearsay.” This Police witness did not state that he knew Xavier nor did he describe him, she added. As such, the Judge held that there was no nexus between the person Nedd took to the GPHC and the person the Police witness said was pointed out to him at the hospital.
As it relates to the post-mortem examination performed on Xavier’s body, she said that there was no evidence that the pathologist knew or was familiar with Xavier.
“The record of identification on the post-mortem report is a statement from someone else… it constitutes hearsay evidence, Justice Morris-Ramlall said, adding that that report was admissible for the truth of its contents only in relation to the doctor’s observations, findings, and conclusions.
According to her, the State led no evidence that someone related to the deceased identified his body; and therefore, closed its case without proving this essential element.
She said there is only evidence to suggest that an Amerindian man was shot and that that man was taken to the GPHC for medical attention.
“To my mind, in this instant case, there is absolutely no evidence of identification of the deceased, whose body the doctor performed a post-mortem examination on. There is nothing that can properly be left to the jury for consideration on the issue,” added the Judge.
“I have concluded that it is trite [law] that where there is an absence of an essential element at the close of the prosecution’s case… the court is tasked to withdraw the case from the jury,” the Judge remarked before directing the jurors to return formal verdicts of not guilty.
Yokum, Campbell, and Moore had already led their defences. At the announcement of the verdicts of acquittal, the visibly relieved men thanked the Judge for her decision.

Overturned
Finding that their defence was insufficiently put to a jury, the Court of Appeal of Guyana in February 2021 had quashed the 2017 convictions against Yokum, Campbell, and Moore for Xavier’s murder; ordering that they face a fresh trial at the Demerara Criminal Assizes.
Justice Navindra Singh, who had presided over their trial in 2017, had sentenced each of them to 80 years’ imprisonment, ordering further that they become eligible for parole after 40 years.
Yokum, Campbell, and Moore were initially charged with the man’s murder on May 21, 2012, and were remanded to prison. They had been incarcerated since then.

Background
It was reported that on May 9, 2012, two men went to the Cornbread Mini Mart where one of them pulled out a large sum of cash while purchasing beers. They were sitting on the bridge when gunshots rang out at the location. The man who had a large sum of money was seen holding onto a man, who was wearing a helmet and who attempted to rob him.
In the end, Xavier of Harlem, West Coast Demerara (WCD), was shot in his chest and left arm and later died. His cause of death was given as haemorrhage and shock due to gunshot injuries.
After the robbery, the gunmen escaped with an undisclosed sum of cash on two motorcycles. (G1)