The student who allegedly set fire to the Mahdia Sec School Dorm is fifteen years old. The Police have been advised by the DPP to charge her with 19 counts of murder – since increased to twenty with the last death. Other students have been critically burnt, and one has been medevacked to a NYC hospital. They will all bear lifetime scars – literally, physically and psychically. There have been questions raised as to whether she should’ve been charged for murder, since she’s a minor; and whether she should’ve been charged at all.
Now, a murder charge means that “the accused purposely or knowingly killed another person, or intentionally acted to cause great bodily harm, such that the perpetrator can reasonably expect to cause the death of the individual.” Is this the case here?? Did the student act “intentionally” to set the fire?? From the evidence in the public arena, it seems she did. She wanted to “show” the house matron that she wasn’t gonna take any disciplining, by having her phone seized, lying down. By deliberately setting fire to mattresses – and even possibly using an accelerant in the form of insect spray, it looks like she wanted to set a BIG fire.
The question is: did she know that fellow students would’ve died?? Well, she certainly knew that the windows were barred, and that death COULD’VE happened. But hold it!! Some are saying that she’s too young to know this. She was just trying to scare the house mother. But in law, intent isn’t the same as “motive” – that she planned to kill those persons. Just that she consciously did the act that led to their deaths. And this is what a trial will clarify. Was it aggravated manslaughter or murder??
The most trenchant criticism of the charge, however, is that, at 15, the girl is too young to be responsible for her actions. And this is the most relevant object. In all jurisdictions, children below a certain age are judged to be “incompetent” to be charged for certain crimes. In Guyana, once the alleged perpetrator is fourteen or older, then a murder charge can be made – but the perpetrator’s name can’t be mentioned!! In this case, however, because of the notoriety of the case and there were no charges made immediately, everyone knows who she is.
So, what’s your Eyewitness’s position?? Well, that a charge should definitely have been made. And left to “a jury of her peers” to analyse the nuances in sentencing her. Your Eyewitness notes that one group of woke activists have taken a stance to drop the charge by stressing the Indigenous origin of the alleged perpetrator.
He thinks this assumption is racist!!
…is LGE list fatally flawed?
With the PNC floating in the LGE water like a school of dead fish – the AFC accepted it was “Dead Meat” and didn’t contest! – they attempted a Hail Mary in the Courts to stop the elections. If you can’t win the game, you might as well bruk it up to keep the status quo. Which is: control the Municipalities – especially GT – so they can flex their muscles at that level!!
Through their cantankerous Polling Agent Carol Joseph, they claimed the voters list for the LGE was fatally flawed, because the OLE had dead and migrated individuals in a constituency! Just like with the General Elections.
The CJ was scathing: unsubstantiated information provided for one constituency of a local authority area “could hardly lead to a conclusion that the OLE is flawed!!” Declaring that the application “was much ado about nothing,” she opined that “Litigants must appreciate that courts rely on evidence, not unsubstantiated opinions or conjecture,” and slapped Joseph with a $250,000 fine!
Insult to injury?!!
…does Maduro want peace??
Pres Ali wants South America to be a zone of peace…and so does every Guyanese!! But the 300-billion-barrel question is whether Maduro wants peace with us!! And will his ally Lula turn a blind eye?!
