Magistracy has jurisdiction to hear extradition proceedings — High Court Judge rules

….Lawyers for US murder accused to appeal ruling

Justice JoAnn Barlow on Friday ruled that the Magistrate’s Court has the authority to proceed in the extradition case of Troy Thomas, which is to continue at the Providence Magistrates’ Courts on June 26.
Thomas, of South Ozone Park, Queens, New York, who is accused of murdering Keith Frank on December 11, 2011 in the US, was earlier in this year arrested in Guyana by ranks of the Guyana Police Force.
It was disclosed that the operation to apprehend Thomas had started since January 31, 2018. Frank succumbed to a bullet wound to the torso allegedly inflicted during a confrontation with Thomas and others. The victim, whose daughter was eight months at the time, died two months before he would have celebrated his twenty-first birthday. He had reportedly been living in the U.S. since

he was 12.
Reports in US media stated that the killing occurred outside a South Richmond Hill party.
US media reports quoted Frank’s mother, Carol Kyte, as saying that her son was attending a birthday party near 132nd Street and 109th Avenue, and encountered some other men with whom he had an ongoing dispute.
It is alleged that a group of other Guyanese men were at odds with one of Frank’s friends over sophomoric quibbles like break-dancing or the attention of girls in the neighbourhood.
On March 14, 2018, Thomas was charged before Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus, and was remanded to prison pending his extradition after he was caught by Police hiding in Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara (ECD).
At the High Court on Friday, Judge Barlow dismissed the application by Thomas for the matter to be heard in the High Court. The judge made her decision after considering the Fugitive Defenders Act.
After considering said Act, Barlow noted that the rights of Thomas were not being violated. The learned judge further stated that the Foreign Affairs Minister had already taken into account all of the regulations before he gave the Magistrates’ Courts clearance to proceed.
In making the decision, the Judge also considered the extradition cases of Barry Dataram, Garfield Sobers, Steven King and Terrence Singh.
Judge Barlow them proceeded to dismiss the application, stating that the declaration being sought by the attorneys for the accused was refused. Cost for the respondent was awarded in the sum of $150,000.
Following the decision, Attorney for Thomas, Nigel Hughes, requested a three-week stay in the matter at the High Court, which would allow him time to appeal the judge’s decision.
This was objected to by Solicitor General Kim Kyte-Thomas, who stated that there is no merit in the appeal. The stay was denied by Judge Barlow, who stated that the time leading up to the continuation date is sufficient enough for Hughes to make his appeal.
Thomas’s lawyers: Nigel Hughes, Darren Wade and Bernard DaSilva, had moved to the High Court in a bid to block his extradition case on the grounds that the Magistrate’s Court had no jurisdiction to hear the case.
Attorney-at-Law Wade had contended that the extradition treaty between the United States of America (USA) and Guyana was never introduced into local law, and therefore it would have no effect. He had alluded to several cases in the past.
Thomas was being hunted by the New York Police Department, and a wanted bulletin was issued for him in connection with the murder of Frank after an altercation outside of a South Richmond Hill party.
It was then disclosed by US law enforcement agents that Thomas had fled the country to Canada within hours of allegedly committing the crime.
He shortly after reportedly travelled to Guyana, before the wanted bulletin which was issued by the US had reached Interpol.