by Sherah Alleyne
CITY magistrate Judy Latchman Tuesday ordered that an arrest warrant be issued for Barry Dataram and his common-law wife Anjanie Boodnarine after the two failed to attend court for ruling in the matter against them.The two, along with Kevin Charran and Trevor Gouveia, who were present at Tuesday’s hearing are charged for the possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking. It was alleged that they were in possession of 129.230 kilogrammes (284 pounds) of cocaine on April 16, 2015 at Dataram’s house located at 661 Silver Dam, Fourth Avenue, Diamond Housing Scheme.

Magistrate Latchman warned the other accused Gouveia and Charran to return to court on Friday, September 23, 2016 for the continuation of the trial. She told them that if they were not present on Friday arrest warrants would be issued.

Defence Lawyer Glenn Hanoman told the court that Dataram was expected to appear in court on Tuesday. Hanoman related that he only saw Gouveia and Charran but he did not see Dataram and Boodnarine. He added that he called Dataram and he said that he was on his way.
Court was adjourned for a few minutes during which time Hanoman made several calls.

Hanoman told the court that Dataram and Boodnarine had a good record of attendance so he was unsure if an emergency might have prevented them from showing up.

On Tuesday Magistrate Latchman was expected to make a ruling on whether a prima facie case was made out against Dataram and his co-accused.

If the magistrate found that there was sufficient evidence against the accused, they would have been required to lead a defence.