… case weak, vague, says defence lawyer
Taxi driver, Sevak Rampersaud, who was charged with the murder of Verone Pattoir, at 42 Mudflat, Stanleytown, New Amsterdam, was discharged after Magistrate Adela Nagamootoo upheld a no-case submission. Rampersaud, 37 years, of 54  Stanleytown, New Amsterdam, was accused of killing Pattoir at her home on May 20, 2011. She was discovered by her daughter Nickita Hughes, who had returned home from school.
The then Grade Six student, on returning home from school, was horrified at discovering the bloodied body of her mother lying in the hallway of their home.
Meanwhile, defence counsel, Mursulene Bacchus, making submissions in the New Amsterdam Court, said the prosecution failed to make out a prima facie case against the accused, and was obviously relying on circumstantial evidence.
Citing legal authorities, the lawyer noted that there was no evidence that the accused was in the home of the deceased on the day in question.
“The most, if anything at all, the evidence paints is suspicion, but the accused cannot be committed on suspicion. It may have been different if there was evidence that the accused was seen going or leaving the home; but there is no such evidence”, Bacchus argued.
Bacchus said, the case was vague and weak because there is no evidence of the time of death of the deceased
Further, he noted, there is complete absence of any evidence that the accused was in the vicinity of the deceased home when she was killed.