THREE teenage murder accused who were wrongly committed to stand trial for the Demico Roof Garden  murder in 2008 were freed yesterday.

Directions to the jury to free Satassie Mc  Farlene,18, Ceretse Rogers, 19, and Marcas  Joseph Roberts, 14, came from Justice Navindra Singh who pointed to the illegalities and reminded the jurors  that although they were the  judges of facts, he was the judge  of the law  in his court.
And because what had been done to the youthful accused ought not to have occurred, the judge directed the jury to return formal verdicts of not guilty of murder in relation to each accused.
Noting that he was apologizing for what had happened to the three young men, the judge stated that the event was regrettable.
Following the jury’s verdict, he discharged the men and told them that they were free to leave the dock.
The men were defended by attorneys Nigel Hughes for Satasssie Mc Farlene, Basil Williams for Ceretse Rogers and Huckumchand for Marcas Roberts.
However, Williams later explained that single handedly, he represented the trio at the preliminary hearing, and had made a no-case submission which was overruled by the magistrate.
Williams further said that the three men happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
According to him, there was no case against the accused. The evidence, he said, revealed that the killer who actually stabbed the deceased with a scissors was a boy called ‘Dane’, but the police never pursued him. They made no genuine effort to get the killer, Williams said.
Evidence, it is said, was collected from six witnesses and the accused gave caution statements which were not concerned with guilt.
After calling all their witnesses, state attorneys Renita Singh and Rhondel Weever closed their case without offering further convincing evidence.
As a consequence, the judge issued the necessary directions to the jury.
The hearing of the Demico Roof Garden murder case in which Salassie Mc Farlene, Ceretse Rogers and Marcus Roberts were facing trial for the murder of 20-year old Jermaine Anderson in April 2008, began at the Demerara Assizes recently.
In her opening address to the jury, Renita Singh told them that the accused sitting in the dock had been indicted with the offence of murder.
According to her, it is alleged that on the 24th of April, 2008, at Demico Roof Garden, an incident occurred when Jermaine Anderson was stabbed and killed.
She assured the jurors that evidence would be led to show that a post-mortem performed on the body revealed that he had an incised wound to his left chest and one to his left armpit.
The cause of death was stated by the pathologist as perforation of the heart due to a stab wound, and subsequently the three accused were charged for the murder of Anderson.
The lawyer for the state had told the jury, ”We, the prosecution represent the state and our duty is to prove to you that these accused murdered Jermaine Anderson.”