THE defence in the case in which murder accused Sherwin Barnwell, called ‘Reeya’, is indicted for the murder of 42-year-old Nohar Bahadur, called ‘Bunty’, is to make no-case submissions, next Tuesday afternoon, in the absence of the jury. Lawyer George Thomas, who in association with Lawyer Miss Norma Lewis appearing for the defence, made this disclosure to Justice Franklyn Holder, at the close of the prosecution’s case on Friday afternoon.
Monday being a public holiday, the adjournment was taken to Tuesday afternoon, when Mr. Thomas will begin his submissions.
The deceased, Nohar Bahadur, called ‘Bunty’, was living in Friendship, East Bank, Demerara in December 2006.
On Christmas Eve of 2006, he went to his relative’s home in Friendship to spend some time.
At about 9 pm on Christmas Eve, he left that relative’s home alive and well; but as Christmas Eve was turning into Christmas Day, ‘Bunty’ was found lying on  a road in the Friendship area with injuries to his body.
He was taken to the Georgetown Hospital on Christmas Day, where he was pronounced dead.
The police conducted their investigations and arrested Barnwell on the 30th of December, 2006.
Further investigations were carried out, and the accused was later charged with the offence of murder.
The doctor who performed the post-mortem testified that he found a stab-wound in the chest, which according to him could have resulted in the death of the deceased.
On the other hand, the accused is said to have made a caution statement to the police, implicating himself in the crime; but he denied making such a statement, and claimed that he could not write and that the signature on the document was not his.
The prosecution, led by Senior State Counsel Miss Zamilla Ally, with Miss Dianne Kaulesar from the DPP Chambers, called as a witness former prison receptionist Claude Chapman, in an effort to prove that the accused could sign his name.
Chapman, who is now self-employed, produced the Penal Information Record book of the Georgetown Prison. He admitted to admitting prisoner Sherwin Barnwell to prison on the day in question, and claimed that he had signed his name to information given.
However, under cross-examination by defence counsel George Thomas, the witness said that in cases where prisoners could not sign their names, their thumb prints were taken, as done in the case of Barnwell.
Eyewitnesses who had testified seeing the deceased on the road that night stated that they had seen the accused slap and stamp ‘Bunty’, but none spoke about seeing him being stabbed.