…after declaring Magistrates’ Court has no jurisdiction in matter

THE defence attorneys for Troy Anthony Thomas, who is wanted in the United States (US) in connection with a 2011 murder, are expected this week to file a motion in the High Court to stop processing of the extradition matter, which is currently being heard at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

The attorneys, Nigel Hughes, Bernard DaSilva and Darren Wade, recently aired their objections when the matter was called before Acting Chief Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus last Monday.

The three lawyers are contending that the Magistrates’ Court does not have the power to deal with the matter which is filed under the Fugitive Offenders Act.
Hughes contended that the rights of Thomas will be overstepped upon, if the extradition proceeding is heard in the lower court and the case would have been better heard in the High Court.

Attorney DaSilva during his preliminary submission, told the court his client was being deprived of his liberty for the purpose of extradition to the USA, contrary to the prohibitive provision of the Fugitive Offenders Act 1998.
DaSilva further added that Thomas’ detention was unlawful and unconstitutional, since the 1993 Extradition Treaty made between the UK and USA, to which Guyana succeeded on its attainment of independence in 1966, contains no provision of the Fugitive Offenders Act 1998.

He added that the treaty must contain: (a) provision for securing a fugitive offender, (b) once extradited to the requesting state, in this case the USA, will not be extradited to a third country without the consent of the Minister of the requested state—in this case Guyana.

Stacy Gooding, a lawyer who is representing the Government of the United States of America, requested some time to reply to the attorneys’ submissions.
The matter was transferred to the Providence Magistrates’ Court for April 11 before Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus.

Thomas, 31, of South Ozone Park, Queens, New York, was nabbed by police during an operation on Wednesday, March 14; the operation had commenced since January 31, 2018. According to reports, on December 11, 2011, 20-year-old Keith Frank was shot once in the torso in a flash of violence outside a South Richmond Hill party. Frank, who moved to Queens from Guyana when he was 12, died exactly two months before his 21st birthday.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) began looking for Thomas in connection with the shooting. However, within hours he allegedly fled the jurisdiction and crossed over to Canada from New York State.

In Canada, he is said to have used travel documents belonging to a relative and boarded a Caribbean Airlines flight, arriving in Guyana in the early hours of the morning before the bulletin could reach Interpol (International police.)