Magistrate refuses to visit 3-year-old crime scene

Marcus Bisram murder PI

ꟷ says a PI is being conducted and not a trial

As the Preliminary Inquiry (PI) into the murder of 26-year-old carpenter, Faiyaz Narinedatt, continued at the Whim Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, Magistrate Renita Singh rejected a proposal for the court to visit the crime scene which is more than three years old.

Presently, Marcus Bisram is at the centre of attention after he was implicated in the murder of the carpenter.
However, as the PI continues, the prosecution had requested its lone witness be cross-examined but the defence argued that there were file photos and videos at hand that can be revisited and as such objected to the request.
In her ruling, Magistrate Singh told the court that the PI is about accessing evidence and not conducting a trial.
“This court is not trying the case,” she said while noting that it could only be a Judge and a jury that can try the case.
Magistrate Singh recollected that the witness had told the court that he was about 15 feet away from the scene when he heard a sound.
However, she noted that Court is not tasked with determining whether the witness heard a sound 15 feet away but rather to determine if the information provided by the witness could be used as evidence against Bisram.
The Magistrate sited several cases in explaining the Court’s decision not to visit the scene while adding that there were no complications in the evidence before the Court.
According to the Magistrate, an application to visit the scene was a premature one.
“There is no uncertainty with the evidence. The main objective is that the witness claimed that he heard and a visit to the scene would not assist in determining if the witness heard what he said he heard.”
Meanwhile, State Prosecutor Stacy Goodings was absent but Attorney-at-law Mondel Moore substituted for her. In addition, the two lead defence attorneys were also absent.
Attorney-at-Law Glen Hanoman who is also a part of the defence team told the court that his colleague Sanjeev Datadin was engaged with some matters at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) while Dexter Todd was at the High Court.