Judge quashes committal of cop accused of killing miner

High Court Justice Navindra Singh has quashed the committal of manslaughter accused Police Constable Robert Daniels, who had been charged in relation to the death of Brazilian gold miner Estevao Marques Costa. The Judge has upheld submissions that Daniels’s committal was bad in law.

Constable Daniels, 27, had been charged with the murder of Costa, which occurred on August 11, 2018 at Puruni Backdam in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), and had been committed to stand trial in the High Court for the capital offence, but upon indictment by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), the charge against him was reduced to manslaughter.
Through a battery of lawyers, led by Attorney-at-Law Dexter Todd and comprising Attorneys Dexter Smartt, Jevon Cox, Shercola Exeter, and Aliyyah Abdul Kadir, the interdicted Policeman challenged his committal on the ground that Sections 12, 13, and 14 of the Police Complaints Authority Act had not been complied with during the investigation of the matter.
According to the lawyers, these sections provide for the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) to supervise any investigation of an allegation of death of a person caused by a Police rank. The lawyers submitted that Section 14 of the Act explicitly states that the PCA “shall supervise the investigation of every complaint or information of the nature referred to in Section 12.”
“There was no supervision by the Police Complaints Authority of the investigation of an allegation of murder against the accused Robert Daniels… The provisions of Section 14 of the Police Complaints Authority Act are mandatory, and not discretionary,” argued the cop’s counsel.
Sections 12, 13 and 14 of the Police Complaints Authority Act offer protection to members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) from unfair investigations and charges, Constable Daniels’s legal team contended. Without the provisions of the Act being complied with, the DPP recommended that their client be charged with murder. On advice from the DPP, the Police instituted a charge against the Police rank, his lawyers added.
They explained that a Preliminary Inquiry (PI) was held, and that on October 23, 2019, Constable Daniels was committed to stand trial in the High Court of the Supreme Court of Judicature. The DPP, they added, indicted him for the lesser offence of manslaughter on February 21, 2022. Considering this, the lawyers argued, their client’s right to a fair hearing by virtue of the provisions of Article 144 of the Constitution of Guyana was breached by the Police’s non-compliance with the mandatory provisions of Sections 12, 13 and 14 of the Act.
“The investigation into the allegation of murder by the accused Robert Daniels was not properly executed, and it was on this improper investigation that the accused was charged and indicted,” they advanced.
Justice Navindra Singh, upholding the lawyers’ submissions, granted an order quashing the committal of Constable Daniels by the presiding magistrate; and further, ruled that the DPP’s order of indictment was void, while stressing the need for authorities to comply with the laws.
Reports are that Constable Daniels and a subordinate officer – both of whom were attached to the Kurupung Police Station – had abandoned their post and left the premises on an all-terrain vehicle (ATV). They subsequently left the area via boat, and went to Puruni Landing.
Upon arrival there, Police Constable Robert Daniels reportedly went to a shop, while the subordinate officer remained at the landing. Upon hearing a loud explosion, this subordinate officer rushed to the scene, and was allegedly told that the miner had shot at the Police Constable, and he, in response, had returned fire that mortally wounded the miner.
Other Police ranks who were in the area investigating another matter had proceeded to the scene, and they took possession of the .30 carbine rifle which had allegedly been used by Constable Daniels. (G1)