ON Thursday, 29th November, 2012, Roy Elias of Victoria Village, East Coast Demerara walked out of the Wales Magistrate Court a free man after Magistrate Ann Mc Lennon upheld a No Case submission made on his behalf by Attorney-Law, Mr. Lyndon Amsterdam.

The police had charged the defendant, Roy Elias for possession of 1135 grams of Narcotics,  for the purpose of Trafficking, contrary to the  Narcotics, Drug and  Psychotropic  Substances (Control) Act 1988  and he pleaded ‘not guilty’ when the charge was read to him.
The  allegation against the defendant  was that on the 26th  May , 2012,  acting on information received , a party  of policemen went to a shop at Public Road, West Bank, Demerara and saw  a male  negro Rastafarian standing next to a gift bag on a shelf.
Constable Michael Clarke approached the man and enquired if the bag belonged to him and he replied ‘No.’   He then took possession of the bag and found that it contained leaves, seeds and stems which appeared to be marijuana.   He then arrested the man and took him to the Wales Police Station.
At the station, Constable Clarke placed the bag and the contents on a scale and found that it weighed 1135 grams. He then took out a sample placed  it in a white envelope and marked and sealed it and gave the gift  bag and the contents  along with the  white envelope to Corporal Lakhram  Gurdial for safe keeping and he placed it in his storeroom.
During the trial defence counsel, Amsterdam questioned the police officers on the fact that the defendant, Roy Elias was not shown to be in physical possession of the gift bag nor was he shown to be in constructive possession either.
Additionally , Constable Clarke accepted that the gift bag has a weight by itself  and the fact that this bag  was placed on the scale  along with the contents mean that the  amount  of marijuana in the charge was more than the actual leaves, seeds and stems.
The prosecution also called Corporal Lakhram Gurdial and the shopkeeper in an attempt to prove their case.  But the shopkeeper could not identify the defendant in court neither could she remember the colour of the gift bag.
At the close of the prosecution’s case, defence counsel made a No Case submission that the prosecution had failed to establish a Prima Facie case against the defendant and therefore he should not be called to lead a defence.
In upholding the No Case Submission, Magistrate Ann Mc Lennon observed that there are several grounds on which the submission could  be upheld but only highlighted  the fact  that the weight in the charge  could not be accurate based on the  procedure  followed  by Constable  Michael Clarke and therefore dismissed the charge  against the defendant ,  Roy  Elias who walked out of the court smiling.