Appeal Court upheld sentence for murder convicts Morrison, Persaud
DEAD Marlon Andrew Ramcharran
DEAD Marlon Andrew Ramcharran

THE Guyana Court of Appeal on Monday affirmed a 20-year sentence imposed on Rafael Rene Morrison and Joshua Persaud for the murder of Marlon Andrew Ramcharran, who was fatally chopped at Tain, Berbice in 2013. In 2014, at the Berbice High Court, Persaud, called ‘Sunny Boy’ and Morrison, called ‘Red Head’ were found guilty of the offence by a 12-person jury. They were each sentenced to serve 20 years’ in prison by Justice Diana Insanally. Dissatisfied, the duo moved to the Appeal Court seeking to have their conviction and sentencing overturned.
The convicts argued that there were issues with the trial’s summing up as it related to the direction and guidance on how the jury must treat with the identification evidence given by the prosecution’s main witnesses. The men also asked the court for their immediate release from prison given that the appeal was heard almost six years after it was filed, and eight years after they were charged. While citing Article 144 of the Constitution which states that every person is entitled to a fair hearing within a reasonable time, the men argued that the delay in their appeal hearing amounts to a breach of their constitutional rights.

Persaud was represented by Attorney-at-Law, Murseline Bacchus, while Morrison was represented by Attorney-at-Law, Kim Kyte-Thomas. The appeal was heard by acting Chancellor, Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Justices of Appeal, Rishi Persaud and Dawn Gregory. The Chancellor rejected arguments made on behalf of the two convicts. According to the Chancellor, the delay is an issue faced by all other appellants due to the backlog faced by the judiciary. However, the Chancellor took into account the ruling in relation to the matter of Romeo Da Costa Hall, which was cited by the Caribbean Court of Justice where full credit should be granted for the time an accused person spent in pre-trial custody.

In the end, the Court rejected the appeal to reduce the convicts’ sentence to reflect the time already spent in pre-trial custody, and further ordered that the sentence take effect from the date of their conviction. The evidence in court revealed that the men had been drinking together at the ‘Dusk Till Dawn Night Club’ at Tain New Housing Scheme before an argument ensued, which led to the fatal chopping in which Ramcharran sustained wounds to his head, neck and other parts of his body.Ramcharran was at a bar in the village with two friends, Nicholas Beharry and Rakesh Jaikarran. They left the bar at 2.30 am. Ramcharran went ahead of his friends. They then heard him shouting, “You chopping the wrong person” and they ran towards him. They allegedly saw when the men continued to chop Ramcharran, who collapsed to the ground.

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