Policeman murder accused Dorsette Mc Cammon was freed on Tuesday night after the  twelve member mixed juryl  returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty  in his favour, after deliberating for two hours and twenty five minutes.

Justice Winston Patterson, discharging the accused , said,’ You have been found not guilty for the capital offence. Be grateful to your counsel and to your peers, the jurors. You may leave. You are discharged’.

He was quickly whisked out of the courtroom by his relatives who waited the entire day for the conclusion of the case which commenced on August 11 last.

Ten witnesses testified for the prosecution  led by State Counsel Fabayo Azore, while two witnesses were called for the Defence, conducted by Attorney at law Mursulene Bacchus.

Following the verdict , the courtroom seemed still , before sounds of anguish filled the air. When this reporter asked the  mother of slain policeman  Micah Cort her feelings about the decision, she questioned ,’ Have you ever lost a son. Do you know what it is to have your child killed without having any justice,?”

And with tears streaming down her face, she said , “I am hurting all over again. I lost my son, but God is in charge.’

In her opening address, State Counsel Fabayo Azore related that an unspeakable crime was committed on an officer of the Guyana Police Force, who was shot and later died at.

Azore told Justice Winston Patterson and the mixed jury panel, that during the  semi finals Carib Soca Monarch show,  at about 01:30h , persons were seen moving away from the bar area .

A scuffle between Dorsette  Mc Cammon, and  Micha  Cort  developed and when parted the former was seen pointing a gun toward the on duty policeman. Four shots rang out, and the accused was seen running away.

Both wounded men were taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital where they received treatment; however  Cort succumbed to his injuries.

In a post mortem report Azore said death was due to respiratory failure due to a fractured spine, which  was a result of gunshot injuries.

Prior to the closure of the prosecution’s case, Assistant Superintendent of Police Terrace Paul recalled putting the allegation to Mc Cammon who was a patient at the New Amsterdam Hospital.

The witness  told the court that the  accused, under caution, replied,’ Cort shoot me  at a wake house, and I shoot he back’.

Paul stated earlier that he had gone to the New Amsterdam Hospital Emergency Unit, at 03:00h, where the accused was admitted as a patient on February 11, 2007.

The officer said on  visiting the hospital, the accused appeared to be normal and was responding to questions asked by the doctor. Questioned by Defence Counsel  Mursulene Bacchus, Paul said, he did not write the accused oral statement, nor did he request writing material from the medical staff.

However, on being shown his deposition which recorded him telling the magistrate,’I never made a written note of what the accused told me – up to this date’, the witness adamantly stated he never uttered those words to the Magistrate, although he later confessed that he did not alter or change anything from his deposition which was re-read to him. With respect to the oral statement made by the accused, the police officer said, ‘it was a short one, which I thought would not be forgotten’.

He acknowledged the accused was in police custody from the night of the incident until he was charged his hands were not examined at any stage although the Central Police Station was equipped with a laboratory and technicians.

Following the closure of the prosecution’s case, the accused opted to make an unsworn statement from the dock.

He confessed to being at the  Esplanade ground on February 11, 2007, to watch  the Soca Show, but declared that he was not near the Carib Bar, but  in front of the DDL bar, instead.

The prisoner confessed too that he did not have  a gun, nor did he  shoot Cort, who was unknown to him.

However Mc Cammon recounted that he was shot in his face  in January 2007, whilst at a wake house in Stanleytown , by an unknown person. Since that incident the accused claimed that he was afraid of guns.

The 29-year-old resident of 43 Stanleytown , New Amsterdam, Berbice , was dressed in a white long sleeved  shirt, unbuttoned at the cuffs ,  and a pair of black  pants, stood  unaided in the dock, as he recalled to the Judge the events of that night.

‘At  about 01:30h, on February 11, 2007, while in front of the DDL bar, I heard some explosions, which sounded like gunshots, I became afraid and started running. However, whilst doing so, I felt something hard hit me at the back, I realized I was shot. I fell to the ground, I became unconscious.

Mc Cammon denied having a gun whilst running, and recalled regaining consciousness at the New Amsterdam hospital where he was  treated . He said being unable to speak, he could not tell  Inspector Terrace Paul that he had shot Cort , in retaliation for what the  slain policeman  had done so to him at a wake house. The accused, who was bedridden for eighteen months, claimed that the bullet is still lodged in his spine .