59 of 134 cases disposed of in January’s Demerara Criminal assizes

Some 59 out of the 134 matters before January Demerara Criminal Assizes were disposed of, with 38 of the matters being presented to the High Court and 21 being dismissed nolle prosequi by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Of the 38 matters 20 were for murder, 12 were for sexual offences, four for attempt to commit murder with alternative counts of felonious wounding, and two were for manslaughter.

In the 21 nolle prosequi cases, eight were for Sexual Offences, 8 others were for the offence of attempt to commit murder and felonious wounding and one each for the offences of murder, manslaughter, wounding with intent, conspiracy to commit a felony and child stealing. The complainants or the deceased relatives in these matters submitted written statements they did not wish to proceed with their matters.
In one murder trial the state offered no evidence, and the Trial Judge directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.
In cases involving 42 accused there were seven convictions, 19 guilty pleas, 7 not guilty verdicts by jury and 8 formal verdicts of not guilty.
Madam Justice Jo-Ann Barlow, Madam Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry, Madam Justice Zamilla Ally-Seepaul, Madam Justice Damone Younge, Justice Sandil Kissoon and Justice Navindra Singh presided over the assizes.
State Counsels Joy Williams, Rbina Christmas and Mtumika Lumumba presented eight matters before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow, of which six were for murder, one for manslaughter and one for attempt to commit murder.
ln three of the six murder trials, the accused all pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and were each sentenced respectively to 10 years imprisonment. in another one, the jury returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty. The one other trial is in progress.
The accused in the trial for the offence of manslaughter was found guilty by jury and sentenced to six years imprisonment. The accused in the attempt to commit murder pleaded guilty to the alternative count of felonious wounding. He is awaiting sentencing.
State Counsels Caressa Henry and Padma Dubraj prosecuted twelve Sexual Offences in the Sexual Offences Court of which 11 of these were before Madam Justice Sewnarine-Beharry and one before Justice Singh.
ln three of the 11 matters, the accused were all acquitted by jury verdicts of not guilty. ln another two, the accused both pleaded guilty. One accused was sentenced to three years’ probation with mandatory community service, while the other, who was a juvenile and was indicted on 4 counts for Sexual Activity with a Child Family Member, was placed into the custody of the New Opportunity Corps (NOC) for 18 months.
The complainants in the other 6 matters testified that they did not wish to proceed with their evidence; Justice Beharry then directed the juries to return formal verdicts of not guilty.
ln the one matter before Justice Singh, the jury returned a not guilty verdict.
State Counsels Simran Gajraj, Mikel Puran and Yonika Rowland prosecuted five matters before Madam Justice Ally-Seepaul. Of these four were for the offence of murder and one for attempt to commit murder with an alternative count of wounding with intent.
ln three of the murder matters, the accused all pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter. One of these matters involved two accused who were indicted together. One pleaded guilty and will be sentenced on April 11, while his co-accused was found not guilty by a jury verdict.
ln another one, the accused who was a juvenile at the time of the crime, was sentenced to time spent on remand and 3 years’ probation in accordance with the Juvenile Justice Act. The one other accused will be sentenced on April 9.
The accused in the fourth murder matter was acquitted by a unanimous jury verdict.
The complainant in the matter for attempt to commit murder and wounding with intent testified that he did not wish to proceed with the matter; Trial Judge then directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.
State Counsels Alvaro Ramotar, Muntaz Ali and Delon Fraser prosecuted six matters, of which five were for the offence of murder and one for the offence of attempt to commit murder with the alternative of Felonious Wounding.
Of these 5 murder cases, one was completed before Justice Kissoon. The jury found the accused guilty on the lesser offence of manslaughter and he was sentenced to life imprisonment and will become eligible for parole after 30 years.
The four other murder matters and one attempt to commit murder with the alternative of Felonious Wounding was before Madam Justice Younge.
ln one of these murder trials, the jury found the accused unanimously guilty. He was sentenced to 23 years imprisonment after the Court made deductions for mitigating factors and time spent on remand.
The other three accused all pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and were respectively sentenced to 14 years, 24 years and 12 years imprisonment after deductions and time spent on remand were made by the court.
The accused in the matter for 4 counts each of attempt to commit murder and Felonious Wounding with intent, pleaded guilty to two counts each; for the two counts of Attempt Murder, he was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and for the two counts of Felonious Wounding with lntent, he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. These sentences will run concurrently.
State Counsel Taneshia Saygon and Christopher Belfield completed seven matters before Justice Singh, of which five were for murder, one was for manslaughter and one for attempt to commit murder with an alternative count of discharging a loaded firearm with intent.
ln the five murder matters, there were eight accused of which five of them pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter. One accused was sentenced to 25 years, two of them were sentenced to 15 years each, and one sentenced to time served on remand. The other one will be sentenced on April 7.
The three other accused were each found unanimously guilty by jury verdicts and sentenced to life imprisonment; two of them without parole. One will become eligible for parole after serving 33 years. The accused for the offence of manslaughter, pleaded guilty to the charge. He too will be sentenced on April 7.
The accused in the matter for the offence of attempt to commit murder and discharging of loaded firearm with intent was found unanimous guilty by his jury and was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole.