Two freed, Kawal gets special plea, Lancaster for murder
WHEN the Kuru Kuru murder trial continued yesterday, Daywan Kawal, a prisoner who benefited from a special plea bargain, told the jury that while the four accused were committed to stand trial in the High Court, two were freed and, “I was jailed for seven years for manslaughter, while Burt Lancaster remained charged with murder.” Answering cross-examination by Attorney-at-Law Basil Williams, Kawal testified that he had given three statements to the prosecution — the first was given in 2006, the second on the same day, and the third was given in 2011 when he benefited from the plea bargaining arrangement.
In his first statement, the witness had said that he and the accused Burt Lancaster had decided to rob taxi driver Deonarine Sookdeo, but that Lancaster was the one who had knifed Sookdeo in the belly. However, Kawal admitted that there was an error in this first statement, and when asked to explain this mistake, he declared that both he and Lancaster had stabbed Sookdeo in the belly, causing him to die.
Kawal had accepted from questions in the cross-examination that he had made it clear that the accused Lancaster would be severely dealt with, and that he was prepared to give evidence against Lancaster because of the benefit he derived from the plea bargain arrangement.
Kawal admitted that the accused Lancaster stammered horribly, making it unlikely for him to carry on a conversation in comfort; but he claimed that that does not cause Lancaster much problem.
In answer to leading prosecutor Miss Konyo Sandiford, in her examination in evidence in chief,   Daywan Kawal told how he had agreed with Lancaster to rob the taxi driver and wound him with a knife.
The opening address to the jury was done by associate prosecutor Miss Diana Kaulesar.
In answer to questions by Mr. Williams, Kawal said he and the accused Burt Lancaster had worked as labourers at a brick factory, where they were given penknives and tapes to look after the broken blocks.
The hearing is continuing.