JUSTICE Brassington Reynolds last Friday removed a murder case from and directed the Prosecution to make sure the matter is first on the list for the next session (next year) noting that the wheels of justice was moving too slowly.

Reacting to the last observation, Attorney-at-law, Mr. Huckumchand, whose client had to suffer since the accused charged jointly had to remain until the next sessions, jokingly told the judge, “the lady is so blind that she cannot see.”

However, on a more serious note the lawyer agreed with the judge that the time set for the case to be brought back would give the accused or the authorities time to appoint counsel for the three murder accused who were unrepresented. That delay Mr. Huckumchand said was most desirable.

Obstacles which cause delays in trials include the listing and setting of cases to be tried without making sure that witnesses were available, murder accused listed for trial are not represented by counsel, and that cases which require lengthy voir dires should be distinguished before court day.

Because of these and other failures, cases are being left untried and on a daily basis the list of unheard cases are increasing. So slow is the pace of the wheels of justice that since the beginning of the October Criminal Sessions in Demerara, the two judges, Mr. James Bovell-Drakes and Mr. Brassington Reynolds have only been able to complete a total of five cases between them.

These include the Mark Samuels murder trial- Samuels was sentenced to death; Roxanne Daniels murder case – Daniels was sentenced to seven years for manslaughter; Joanna Denhai murder trial – that trial was aborted; Patrick Narine carnal knowledge case, Narine was found guilty, awaiting probation report; Mahendra Persaud murder trial – Persaud was sentenced to 15 years for manslaughter.

Currently Justice James Bovell-Drakes is still conducting a voir dire (a trial within a trial) to determine the admissibility of a magisterial document in the Abubakir, Abdel Bari and Atta Sankar Conspiracy to defraud case.