The Chamber of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has been given more time to file a response in the Marcus Bisram committal petition filed by Attorney-at-law Sanjeev Datadin.
Marcus Bisram
Bisram has been committed to stand trial in the High Court for the November 2016 murder of Corentyne carpenter Fayaz Narinedatt.
Bisram, who was extradited from the United States, was freed of this murder charge on March 30 after Magistrate Renita Singh had upheld a no-case submission made by the defense. However, hours later he was re-arrested, and made a court appearance three days later as the DPP had asked that the case be reopened and Bisram committed to stand trial before a judge and jury in the High Court.
DPP Shalimar Ali-Hack
Magistrate Singh had refused to commit the US-based millionaire, saying that she had already ruled that there was not enough evidence, but State Prosecutor Stacy Goodings argued that the Magistrate is a creature of the statutes and is obligated to adhere to the instructions of the DPP.
Dead: Fayaz Narinedatt
The Magistrate, after seeking guidance, committed Bisram four days later; but Bisram’s lawyer subsequently filed a petition in the High Court, challenging the committal.
Those proceedings came up before Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall on Tuesday.
Before Bisram’s committal, the DPP had sent two letters to the Magistrate, one instructing her to reopen the trial, and another instructing her to commit Bisram to stand trial.
In his petition to the High Court, the petitioner is asking the Court to squash the first letter and is also contending that the second letter cannot substitute the first letter.
Attorney Sanjeev Datadin
When the High Court held a virtual sitting on Tuesday, the DPP asked for more time to file a response, and was given until next Monday.
Bisram is accused of ordering the death of Narinedatt, a carpenter of #70 Village Corentyne, on November 30, 2016. Narinedatt’s death was initially reported as a suspected hit-and-run accident, but it was later reported that Bisram had made sexual advances to Narinedatt and was rebuffed.
Bisram was initially charged here in absentia, while five others: Orlando Dickie, Radesh Motie, Diodath Datt, HarriPaul Parsramand and Niran Yacoob, have also been committed to stand trial for the murder.
That trial is now in the High Court.
On March 7, 2017, an arrest warrant was issued for Bisram, who was in the US at the time. The warrant was issued on the allegation that Bisram instructed five other men to kill Narinedatt because the carpenter had rebuffed Bisram when he had made sexual advances to him.
In November 2018, Bisram was extradited to Guyana after a US appeal court had two months prior ordered him to be extradited after denying both a rehearing of his appeal and a motion to stay the extradition.
