Election fraud case: Trial to restart next Wednesday with acting chief magistrate presiding

The election fraud case will be restarting on November 6, with a new Magistrate, in the form of acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty, taking over the case from Senior Magistrate Leron Daly as a result of her extended illness.
When the election fraud case resumed on Friday before Magistrate McGusty, it was announced that she would henceforth be handling the case. This comes even as Senior Magistrate Leron Daly, who previously presided over the case, continues to be on sick leave.

During Friday’s hearing, it was further disclosed that a number of important persons in the case are out of the jurisdiction. They include Local Government Minister Sonia Parag, who was the first witness called, Special Prosecutor Darshan Ramdhani and Defense Counsel Eusi Anderson.
As a result, Magistrate McGusty announced that while it had been acting Chancellor of the Judiciary Yonnette Cummings-Edward’s wish that the case restart on Friday, that would just not be possible.
After initially considering November 4, both defence and prosecution agreed that a restart of the case on Wednesday, November 6, 2024 at 2:00pm would be in everyone’s best interest. As a result, November 6 was set as the date for resumption, with a Case Management Conference.
Additionally, the Chief Magistrate’s proposal for a recording device to be used to record testimonies was shot down by Anderson, who expressed concern over the potential for the record to be contaminated by hearsay evidence. Nevertheless, assurances were provided by the Magistrate that this would be guarded against.
The decision to restart the trial comes despite two witnesses– Minister Parag and Rosalinda Rasul, the current Head of the Diaspora Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs- having already testified.
The judiciary has faced criticisms over the lengthy delays associated with this trial. Only on Wednesday, during his press conference, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had urged the judiciary to address delays in important cases such as these.
A few months ago, Jagdeo had stated that given the pace of the trials in the local courts, he has no doubts that this high-profile matter could end up in the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) – the highest level of judicial redress for Guyana.
The elections fraud trials commenced on July 29 for several individuals facing charges of alleged irregularities during the General Elections in 2020. Being heard before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, the trial was expected to run from July 29 to September 13 but only three hearings had been completed.
The matter was initially deferred to August 5 but the parties were informed that the presiding magistrate was out sick and the matter would be heard the following day. However, they were subsequently told that the magistrate has been placed on 30 days of sick leave.
When contacted, Special Prosecutor and King’s Counsel Darshan Ramdhani, related to this newspaper that he only found out about the Magistrate’s sick leave on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 6.
In her testimony, Parag had recalled acts of misconduct she witnessed from GECOM staff during the 2020 General and Regional Elections. Her testimony included witnessing efforts by GECOM staff to alter the results by deducting People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) votes and adding votes to the then-ruling A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC).
She had also testified that despite a Court Order from acting Chief Justice Roxane George which compelled GECOM to use only the Statements of Poll (SOPs) to tabulate the numbers for the Region Four (Demerara/Mahaica) votes, Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, one of those now on trial, continued to conduct the tabulation using a projector and bedsheet.
The prosecution, led by KC Ramdhani, had complained that witnesses are not being allowed to freely testify as they should. At the last hearing before she came down with her illness, Magistrate Daly had acknowledged that not allowing certain testimony was indeed an error. As such, she gave permission for the reopening of the examination of the witness, Minister Parag.
Nine persons are before the court in relation to electoral fraud. They are former Returning Officer for Region Four, Clairmont Mingo; former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield; his former Deputy, Roxanne Myers; former People’s National Congress/ Reform (PNCR) Chairperson Volda Lawrence; PNCR activist Carol Smith-Joseph; and GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Michelle Miller and Denise Babb-Cummings.
They are facing 28 charges relating to electoral fraud. Among the offences these defendants are accused of committing are: misconduct while holding public office; presenting falsified documentation; and planning to manipulate Guyana’s voters by presenting an inaccurate vote total. (G3)