6 matters completed at Court of Appeal

During April and May 2021, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) appeared in six matters before the Court of Appeal. Of these six matters, five were for appeals against conviction and sentence.
While two of the appellants were granted their applications and had their sentences and convictions set aside, the other two applications to appeal against conviction were dismissed.
However, the appellants in these two cases had their sentences varied. In the other case, the appellant had filed a cross-appeal against the DPP for having him committed to stand trial at the High Court for the offence of murder.
In its decision, the Court of Appeal dismissed the cross-appeal, allowed the appeal filed by the DPP, and ordered that the High Court decision be set aside.
Meanwhile, so far for 2021, the DPP appeared in nine matters at the Berbice Full Court. They were for the offences of assault causing actual bodily harm, threatening behaviour, abusive language, felonious wounding, and simple larceny.
Four appellants had their applications to appeal dismissed. Three others were granted their applications to appeal. An application was allowed in part, and while the court affirmed the conviction, the sentence was varied. The other application was withdrawn.
For 2020, the DPP appeared in 15 matters at the Court of Appeal. Of these 15 appeals, six were for the offence of murder, four for manslaughter, two for sexual offences, and one each for the offences of attempt to commit murder, falsification of accounts by clerk or servant, and robbery with aggravation.
There were 10 appeals against conviction and sentence. One of these appeals was withdrawn and one was allowed. The other eight appeals were allowed in part. In two of the eight cases, the appeal against a conviction of murder was allowed and the offence of manslaughter was substituted.
The appellants were sentenced accordingly. In the other six cases, the appeal against conviction was dismissed and the sentences were varied. There was one application to appeal against a life sentence; it was dismissed. Furthermore, there were two applications for bail; one of these was denied, while the other was granted.
There were another two applications for extension of time to appeal; one of these was granted while the other one was withdrawn and discontinued.
Meanwhile, during 2020, the Demerara Full Court sat for three matters for the offences of unlawful possession of ammunition, possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking, and using a computer to humiliate a person. In one case, the application was dismissed as the court was informed that the appellant had died.
In the other case, the court ruled that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the application or to grant bail. This too was dismissed. In the third case, there was an application by the appellant to leave the jurisdiction and it was granted by the court.
The Berbice Full Court sat for two appeals in 2020. They were for the offences of dangerous driving and sexual assault. One appellant withdrew his application, while the other application was dismissed since the appellant and his counsel were absent.
Over at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in 2020, the DPP, Shalimar Ali-Hack, SC, appeared in person in the case of Linton Pompey v the State. This was an appeal against conviction and sentence for three sexual offences, including two counts of rape of a child under 16. The appeal against conviction was dismissed and the appeal against sentence was granted and the sentence was varied.