–Justice Holder to rule on Monday
JUSTICE Franklyn Holder, presiding in the Mahaica felony murder, has completed the hearing of defence no-case submissions which he began conducting in the absence of the jury three days ago.He has reserved his ruling to be aired on Monday morning, when he will deliver his decision in relation to the no-case submissions made by defence counsel Trenton Lake for the number one accused, Orrin David, and defence counsel George Thomas for the number two accused, Shawn Thom.

The prosecution’s case is that on August 20, 2010, the accused Shawn Thom and Orin David, riding a motorcycle, staged a robbery/ murder at Hope, East Coast Demerara, which led to the death of Lakhram Bishundial, called ‘Mohan’.

The accused have pleaded not guilty to the crime.

The prosecution, conducted by Senior State Counsel Mrs. Judith Mursalin, has called 14 witnesses, including three eyewitnesses who gave the jury an account of what they had seen. But at the close of the prosecution’s case, the defence counsels elected to make no-case submissions in the absence of the jury, expecting that their clients would be freed on points of law at that stage, without the matter having to be determined by the jury.

The prosecutrix has suitably replied to the defence counsels’ submissions, and Justice Franklin Holder has disclosed that he would rule on the submissions on Monday morning.

In the event that the no-case submissions are accepted in relation to both accused, Justice Holder would then free the men and direct the mixed jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty. But should the submissions be overruled, Justice Holder is expected to call on each accused to lead a defence before the jury – the judges of the facts – at the substantive trial, when, after hearing the defence, addresses by counsel on both sides, and the summing-up of the evidence, the jury would receive directions on the law from the trial judge, and would retire to consider their verdict.
By George Barclay