Former murder accused files $100M lawsuit against State

After spending close to seven years on remand for a murder charge the police were unable to prove he committed, former murder accused, Cloyd Harris has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the State. In his lawsuit, Harris is contending that his fundamental right to liberty was violated. His lawyer, Dexter Todd, said that his client’s rights guaranteed under Articles 139 and 144 of the Constitution were violated as he was held on remand for murder for six years, six months and six days without a trial.

In the Statement of Claim directed to Attorney General Anil Nandlall, Harris is asking the court to award him damages in excess of $100 million in damages for his unlawful detention, loss of liberty and for delay of trial within a reasonable time. He is also asking the court to award him costs and any such further orders the court deems just in the circumstances. On December 25, 2012, Harris was arrested by Police for the December 22, 2012 murder of his 71-year-old cousin Derrick Cox.
The pensioner was shot and killed by bandits in front of his shop at Plaisance, East Coast Demerara. A murder charge was later instituted against Harris. He appeared in the Magistrates’ Courts and was held on remand pending the hearing and determination of a Preliminary Inquiry (PI). He was not required to plead to the indictable charge. The PI was conducted by Senior Magistrate Alex Moore at the Sparendaam Magistrates’ Courts. At the conclusion of the PI in October 2013, Magistrate Moore committed Harris to stand trial by a jury before a Judge for the offence.
However, there was a delay in the start of Harris’ trial. This was because the case docket and deposition were not submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Instead, the documents remained with the Clerk of Court of the East Coast Demerara Magisterial District up until 2016. Magistrate Moore was later ordered by the DPP to reopen the PI to admit additional evidence. As such, the Magistrate followed those directives and the preliminary hearing got underway again in December 2018.
This time around, the prosecution’s main witness testified that he did not see Harris at the scene of the murder. In light of this, in July 2019, Magistrate Moore ruled that there was insufficient evidence to commit Harris to stand trial for his cousin’s murder. Harris was discharged by the Magistrate and was subsequently released from prison. Having regards to the foregoing, Harris is asking the court to award him the damages he seeks, costs, and to declare that his unlawful arrest and detention for over six years without a trial within a reasonable time was unreasonable and in contravention of Constitution.