THE prosecution in the Cyon “Picture Boy” Collier double-murder voir dire, to determine admissibility of a confession statement he is alleged to have made to the police, closed its case yesterday.
This morning, at 09:00 hours, presiding judge Justice Diana Insanally will address the accused.
The contentious statement was about to be presented in evidence by Mrs. Judith
Gildharie-Mursalin, the prosecutor, earlier in the substantive trial, when defence counsel Mr. Lyndon Amsterdam objected on the ground that it had not been obtained freely and voluntarily, in accordance with the Judge’s Rules.
Therefore, Justice Insanally had no alternative but to send the jury out of sight and hearing in order that she might hold the voir dire.
During the voir dire, the prosecution had called a number of witnesses in support of its case; and yesterday morning, Prosecutor Mursalin called her last two witnesses — Inspector Chabinauth of the Sparendaam Police Station, and Medex Sharren Cumbermack of the Guyana Prison Service.
After the latter witness had testified, the prosecution closed its case in the voir dire, and defence counsel Lyndon Amsterdam urged the judge to delay putting the election to his client to today; hence the judge will so do at nine ‘o’ clock this morning, when the accused will decide what form his defence would take.
Before the session closed yesterday, after the jury had returned from the jury room, the judge, as per custom, warned members of the jury to neither discuss the case among themselves nor with anyone concerned therewith, but to keep an open mind until the matter has been handed over to them.
The prosecution’s case is that on the morning of September 23, 2006, brothers Ray Walcott, called ‘Sugar’, and Carl Andrews, called ‘Alo’, were standing on the roadside at Victoria Four Corner, East Coast Demerara, watching a game of dominoes when they were shot dead by the accused, who rode up on a motor cycle, carrying an AK-47 rifle with which he began shooting.
Later, the accused was charged with the brothers’ murder.
The voire dire was held to determine whether the alleged confession statement is admissible into evidence.