Defence lawyers grill police witnesses

THE trial into the Bartica Massacre continued in the High Court on Tuesday before Justice Roxane George and a 12-member jury with two police witnesses being recalled to testify under cross-examination.

On trial are Mark Royden Williams, called “Smallie”; Dennis Williams, called “Anaconda”; and Roger Simon, called “Goat Man” for the murder of nine civilians and three policemen at Bartica on February 17, 2008.

They are being represented by attorneys-at-law Roger Yearwood, Saphier Hussain and Peter Hugh respectively.

First to take the stand Tuesday was Superintendent Linden Lord, who told the court when led by State Prosecutor Stacy Goodings in his evidence-in-chief, that the room in which he conducted the identification parade not only had a one-way mirror, but lighting on only one side.

That light, he said, was on the side of the room in which the seven men on parade were standing, waiting to be identified by the eyewitness.

ALMOST IMMEDIATELY
Lord said that Mark Royden Williams, called “Smallie”, was almost immediately pointed out by the witness as being one of the men involved in the Bartica Massacre.

Yearwood, “Smallie’s” attorney, asked Lord whether it was the first ID parade he’d conducted, to which he replied in the negative saying that he had, in fact, done so about 25 times.

He also advised the learned attorney that it was not he that had made the guidelines for the parades; that rather, as he, Yearwood, very well knew, they were in accordance with Standing Orders.

Lord told the court, under cross-examination by Yearwood, that what he was saying about what transpired at the identification parade was the truth, since the C5 form was filled out by one Sergeant Rodwell Sarrabo and not he; that he, Lord, was not one of the investigating ranks in the Bartica Massacre.

He further told the court that his responsibility in the matter was conducting the identification parade, on which were seven men of similar body structure, age, complexion and height as the accused, Mark Royden Williams, called “Smallie”.

Lord said he was not responsible for bringing the men to the identification parade; that rather he was notified half an hour before the appointed time that one was to be held.

The officer, who is attached to the Presidential Guard Protection Unit, told the court when questioned that the men on the ID parade were similarly dressed, in three-quarter brown pants, white jerseys, and slippers, and that they all had long hair.

Lord conceded that according to the Guyana Police Force Standing Orders, eight men, and not seven, should have been on the parade.

NEVER MET BEFORE
Cross-examined by Husain, Lord said he couldn’t say whether or not the witness who picked out his client, “Anaconda”, is a cop, as they had never met before.

Lord said he and his colleague, Trevor Reid, worked side-by-side back in 2008, as they were both Police Inspectors. When asked whether he had spoken to Reid in relation to the Bartica Massacre, he replied in the affirmative, saying they had done so several times.

Husain next asked Lord whether he knew the names of the men on the ID parade, and his response was that he didn’t, except for the name of the suspect, Dennis Williams, called “Anaconda”, who happens to be his, Husain’s, client.

Husain then put it to Lord that the ID parade he’d conducted was improper, because he had spoken to the witness before the parade was held. Lord denied the allegation.

The second witness to take the stand was Detective Sergeant Rodwell Sarrabo, who is the Subordinate Officer-in-Charge of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Brickdam.

When cross-examined by Defence Counsel Roger Yearwood, Sarrabo said while he was one of the investigating ranks in the Bartica Massacre, he was not present, as suggested by counsel, when the ID parade was conducted, in which Mark Royden Williams was picked out by a witness.

Sarrabo told the court that he had indeed filled out the C5 form for the identification parade, but that it was based on information provided by Linden Lord back in 2008.

The trial will continue on December 28, 2016.