– as no-case submission upheld
THE murder charge against twenty-eight-year-old businessman Rondy Jagdeo of Third Street, Alexander Village, Georgetown, was yesterday discharged by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry after the prosecution failed to prove the elements of the capital offence.

Particulars of the charge said on September 3, 2013 at Eccles, East Bank Demerara, he murdered his friend Kirk Davis.
He was represented by attorneys-at-law Mr. Mark Waldron and Mr. Roger Yearwood. Defence Counsel Yearwood made a no-case submission citing that the prosecution did not prove the elements of the offence. He said the prosecution proved that the deceased died within a year and a day of the incident as a result of a gunshot wound, but did not prove who inflicted the injuries.
The no-case submission was upheld after prosecutor Mangru indicated that the prosecution would rely on the evidence before the court.
The prosecutor said that Rondell Marks, called Barber, and Naliffa Dookie, the girlfriend of the deceased, the main witnesses in the matter, were absent on several occasions during the trial despite summons being issued and radio messages sent out.

After Jagdeo was freed from the charge, a CBR motorcycle was parked awaiting him outside of the court compound. He handed the key to a man who started the motorcycle engine and kept it running. As Jagdeo stepped out from the courtyard, he jumped on the bike and rode off.
The accused had appeared in court on October 30, 2013 last, and Police Corporal Bharat Mangru, prosecuting, told the court that the deceased and Jagdeo were close friends and it is alleged that Davis had kissed the suspect’s wife on her neck while at Palm Court, Main Street, on September 2, 2013, a day before the murder.
Mangru said that on the day in question, Jagdeo went to the home of the deceased at Seventh Street, Eccles Housing Scheme, East Bank of Demerara, in a silver Toyota Allion motorcar to clarify the allegation.
The police prosecutor added that Davis was called out of his home and was seated in the back seat of the car when a heated argument erupted and the suspect came out of the driver’s seat of the vehicle and fired shots at Davis, who was still seated in the car.
Mangru told the court that subsequently, Davis’ body was dumped and the suspect fled the scene. Davis was conveyed to hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Jagdeo, after a month, had turned himself over to the police in the company of two lawyers.
A post-mortem examination revealed that Davis was shot more than 15 times with a 9mm pistol. The autopsy was performed at the Georgetown Public Hospital by Dr Nehaul Singh, who gave the cause of death as shock and hemorrhaging due to multiple gunshot injuries.
By Geeta Rampersaud