Fatal shooting of reputed wife: Fmr GDF Captain pursuing appeal against life sentence

…hires new lawyers

Three years after former Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Captain Orwain Sandy filed an appeal against his too-long jail sentence for killing his reputed wife; he has, through his lawyers, informed the Court of Appeal of Guyana that he is still interested in pursuing the matter.
On August 4, 2020, High Court Judge Sandil Kissoon sentenced Sandy to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 20 years for killing his partner, Reona Payne.
Less than two weeks later, the killer’s then-lawyer Ravindra Mohabir filed a Notice of Appeal on his behalf, contending that the jail time was manifestly excessive and not in keeping with established sentencing guidelines.
In that Notice of Appeal, the lawyer had indicated that additional/substantive grounds will be added at the hearing of the appeal for which a date for hearing had yet to be fixed.
Sandy has since hired new lawyers.
They are Nigel Hughes, Ronald Daniels, and Kiswana Jefford, all from the Hughes, Fields, and Stoby law firm. On Friday, lead attorney Nigel Hughes told the appellate court that his client will be pursuing his appeal against sentence.
He said that he too filed a Notice of Appeal since he was, at the time, unaware that one had already been filed. As such, he requested that the two Notices of Appeal be consolidated.
This publication is not privy to what is contained in the second Notice of Appeal.
The court will send notices to Sandy’s lawyers concerning the hearing date for his appeal.
Initially, 40-year-old Sandy was indicted for the capital offence of murder, but he opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.
He admitted that he shot Payne, 32, 14 times with his service revolver.
The court heard that on March 31, 2018, Sandy and Payne, a mother of three, were in a motor car proceeding along First Street, Alexander Village, Georgetown, when an argument ensued after the then GDF Captain accused her of infidelity.
According to reports, Sandy suddenly stopped the car, and as the woman exited, he shot her 14 times. After the incident, Sandy – who was a Special Assistant to the Chief-of-Staff – turned himself in at the Ruimveldt Police Station.
He was subsequently charged with murder.
He was granted an application to be mentally evaluated after his attorney, Ravindra Mohabir told the court that the examination was critical to his client’s well-being, since he had been consulting with a psychiatrist for two years prior to the fatal shooting.
During Sandy’s sentencing hearing before Justice Kissoon, the father of Payne’s three children, Richard Bevany, as well as her children, shared how her death has affected them.
Bevany told the court that the passing of his children’s mother caused their children to lose focus in school.
In fact, Payne’s daughter and son relayed to the court that they “miss” their mother “very much” and feel like their entire world is falling apart.
Meanwhile, Sandy’s previous attorney Mohabir, in a plea of mitigation, had told the court that on the day of the killing, his client had a “sudden and temporary loss of self-control due to provocation”.
Mohabir had related that Sandy had asked Payne to call the person she was having a relationship with and demanded that she ended it.
In response, Mohabir had related, Payne threw his client’s gun out of the car window, which angered him.
Justice Kissoon had asked Sandy if he had anything to say before a sentence was passed and he responded saying that the incident had increased his passion for advocating against domestic violence and intimate partner violence.
With tears in his eyes, the well-spoken father of four added that ending his first love’s life had left a hole in his heart.
He had claimed that on the day of the killing, he suffered a mental breakdown and that after the killing, he was haunted by suicidal thoughts.
Moreover, Sandy had urged young men to learn from his actions.
Judge Kissoon had described the woman’s killing as “horrific and cruel” and said a strong message must be sent to potential criminals as he ordered Sandy to serve at least 20 years before being eligible for parole.
The Judge had further stated that Sandy’s acts, which included killing Payne in a shower of shots, were “despicable,” “unjustifiable,” “inexcusable,” and, in contrast to his attorney’s claims, “unprovoked.” (G1)