APPEAL COURT Judges, Roxane George-Wiltshire (Chief Justice ag.), Franklin Holder and Rishi Persaud, on Monday, November 18, 2019, ordered a retrial in the case of businessman Kevin Jordan, who was, in 2015, found guilty and sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment for sodomising a 7-year-old boy.

The judges set aside the conviction and Jordan, 60, will remain on $1M bail, pending his re-trial at the High Court. He was represented by attorney-at-law Dexter Todd.
Todd argued that the conviction of Jordan was a nullity and the jury departed from the minimum of two hours before they delivered the majority verdict.
“The jury deliberated for one hour and 20 minutes and would have rushed their verdict. As such, the verdict of the jury was unlawful and the trial judge should have rejected it,” Todd contended.

The appeal court judges ordered that the matter be sent back to the High Court for retrial at the next practical sitting of the Demerara Criminal Assizes.

In October 2015, a 12-member mixed jury found Jordan guilty of raping the child on November 2, 2007. He was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment by High Court Judge Dawn Gregory.

It was alleged that Jordan, the owner of Jordan’s Spare Parts store, molested the victim at his business place.