By George Barclay

THE two accused in the Mocha schoolgirl murder –Jevon Wharton, 25, and Charles Collin Cush, 23 — will know their fate on Monday.On that day, Justice Jo-Ann Barlow presiding over the murder trial at the Demerara Assizes for the alleged murder of nine-year-old Sade Stoby will sum up the evidence for the jury.
Thereafter, she will hand over the case to the 12-member jury who will then retire to consider their verdict of guilty or not guilty.
The first trial ended with a hung jury. That meant that the jury who are expected to be unanimous were unable to arrive at a verdict.
And as a consequence, a new trial was ordered by the trial judge.
The accused, through their lawyers Maxwell Mc Kay and D Kissoon, firstly made no-case submissions in the absence of the jury.
The submissions were overruled by the judge who found that the prosecution had made out a prima facie case that calls on the accused to answer to the jury.
On the resumption Friday morning, the accused completed their defence in which they maintained their innocence and declared that they were not the ones who raped the deceased as alleged and then killed her to escape being identified.
Lawyers McKay and Kissoon addressed the jury, urging them to find their clients not guilty of any crime.
On the other hand, the prosecution as guided by Shonett Austin and Siand Dhurjon, asked the jury to conclude that the State has made out a strong case against the accused.
And that they the jury were expected to return a verdict in keeping with the evidence led and the oath they had taken.
Austin and Siand Dhurjon built their case on witnesses who testified to the effect that nine-year-old schoolgirl Sade Stoby was on her way to school at the Mocha Primary, on November 2, 2007, walking along a dam when she was kidnapped, raped and allegedly murdered.
The accused pleaded not guilty, but gave caution statements to the police, admitting the crime.
In court, they denied certain aspects of the statement, and claimed that although their signatures were on the document, they only answered ‘yes’ and ‘no’. The entire document was not theirs, they contended.
One of the witnesses, Dr Mohan Persaud, told the jury that the number one accused had abrasions and lacerations on his penis while the number two accused had abrasions on his penis and back.
Former Government Medico Mohan Persaud had examined the men, after they had been picked up by the police in 2007.
The youthful accused were aged 16 and 14 at the time when it is alleged that they held up the girl while she was on her way to school.
When questioned by Prosecutor Dhurjon, Dr Persaud said the injuries on the boys’ penis were consistent with the boys having sex with someone when there was a lack of lubrication.
In answer to defence counsel, the doctor also said that the lacerations and abrasions could have been due to masturbation.
When the body of the girl was found it was in a swollen condition in a muddy dam with little water not far from an aqueduct. She was dead and partly naked with her feet spread apart, her father Stoby had said.
Following investigations during which the accused are alleged to have made caution statements admitting the crime, both young men were indicted with murder.
Justice Barlow will sum up the evidence on Monday, following which she will hand over the case to the jury for their consideration and verdict.

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