MURDER accused Morris Kowlesar, called ‘Little,’ who is accused of pushing Ganesh called ‘Butta’ from a pavilion to his death at a West Demerara Sports Ground in 2012, will know his fate on Monday.On that day Presiding Judge Madam Roxanne George will sum up the evidence to the jury, following which she will hand over the case to them for their consideration and verdict.
The trouble started on the morning of March 18, 2012 with an altercation between both men at a rum shop. Later in the day, according to the evidence, ‘Jutta’ was lying on the top floor of the pavilion when the accused threw him off. He died from injuries which included a fractured skull and an injured spine.
At the close of the prosecution’s case, defence counsel Sandil Kissoon had made a no-case submission in the absence of the jury.
Justice George however called on the accused for a defence.
The accused began with an unsworn statement from the dock, in which he claimed that he was innocent.
Mr. Kissoon in his address to the jury urged them to find that the prosecution had presented a case with a single eyewitness – Butnaraine Pertab-whom he claimed was not worthy of belief because of his inconsistencies and admissions of mistakes.
He told them that the accused had admitted that he had been drinking from the night before and on the morning of the killing.
Counsel also asked the jury to find that there was no record of the alleged oral statement in the police records.
He requested that they should find that the case for the State had fallen to pieces and that they should return a verdict of not guilty in favour of the accused.
Prosecutrix Miss Orinthia Schmidt in her final address to the jury, asked them to return a verdict in accordance with the evidence.
Referring to defence counsel’s claims that the prosecution had given different accounts about how the deceased had exited the pavilion, she said that whether he was canted, pushed or thrown from the pavilion, the accused was the person responsible for his death.
The case continues on Monday when the judge will sum up the evidence and hand over the case to the jury for their consideration and verdict.

By George Barclay