The two men who were last week found guilty of murdering a security guard at a mandir at Bloomfield, Corentyne are appealing their conviction.
The trial Judge, Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry is being accused of being biased in favour of the prosecution when she summed up the case.
The duo Shivnarine Jainarine, also called “Sammy” or “Samuel”, of Train Line Dam, Port Mourant, Corentyne, and Ryan Persaud, also called “KK”, of Williamsburg, Corentyne were last week found guilty of murderin
Shivnarine Jainarine
g Jagdat Ramcharran, called “Ronald”, 61, a security guard of Bloomfield between January 6, and January 7, 2013.
The man’s body was found bound and gagged at the Iskcon Hari Krishna Mandir at Block 6 Williamsburg.
Initially, the two, along with Kerwin Hintzen, also called “Rattie”, were indicted for the murder. However, Hintzen had earlier pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was
sentenced to a 20-year jail term.
After being found guilty, the two are now saying that the trial Judge erred. In an appeal filed by Attorney-at-Law Murseline Bacchus, the convicted men are claiming that Justice Sewnarine-Beharry erred in law when she admitted the statement dated May 16, 2013, purportedly given by an appellant, into evidence.
They are also contending that Justice Sewnarine-Beharry erred in law when she ruled that the said statement properly formed part of the evidence, thus making it admissible when there was no positive finding by the Magistrate as to its
Ryan Persaud
voluntariness.
The trial lasted five weeks. The trial was overshadowed by a voir dire which took up most of the time.
In the appeal against the conviction, the two men are contending that the Judge erred in law when she rejected the “no case” submissions at the end of the prosecution’s case and at the end of the evidence.
According to the notice of appeal, the Judge erred in law in ruling that the felony-murder rule applied when the alleged felony was not intrinsically associated with violence – the prosecution’s case was that there was a break-in at the temple and burglary of a dwelling house, when no dwelling house was burglarised.
Meanwhile, Jainarine and Persaud are expected to return to court on November 29, when a probation report is expected to be presented. They are also expected to be sentenced then.
