THE Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), in 2021, recorded its legal advice in 3,297 files received from the Guyana Police Force and other local law enforcement agencies.

Additionally, 156 cases were ‘disposed of’, 128 of which received attention in the courts, while the remaining 28 were nolle posequi by the DPP.

In its year-end press release issued on Wednesday, the chambers stated that, of the 128 court cases, 66 were presented at the Demerara Assizes, 27 at the Berbice Assizes and 35 at the Essequibo Assizes. A total of 151 persons appeared in those cases.

There were 69 cases for the offence of murder, 6 cases for the offence of manslaughter, 45 cases for sexual offences and 8 cases for the offence of attempt to commit murder.

The chambers said it had recorded 37 convictions, 49 guilty pleas, 22 formal verdicts of not guilty, 30 not guilty verdicts by jury, 2 mistrials, 7 hung juries and 28 cases were nolle prosequi.

In 2021, the chambers received 219 committal depositions; 122 of which came from the County of Demerara, 43 from the County of Berbice and 54 from the County of Essequibo.
Of these 219 depositions, 130 have been indicted, 8 charges were discontinued, 74 are receiving attention and 7 were remitted to the Magistrates’ Courts.

According to the release, the Demerara January 2022 Criminal Assizes will open on Tuesday, January 11. There are 364 cases listed to be heard. Justice Brassington Reynolds, Madam Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry and Madam Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall have been rostered to sit during this session.

Justice Sandil Kissoon will continue the Berbice October 2021 Assizes in January. The Berbice February 2022 Criminal Assizes will commence on Tuesday, February 8, 2022, while the Essequibo October 2021 will continue in January. The Essequibo February Criminal Assizes will open with Justice Jo-Ann Barlow on Tuesday, February 15, 2022.

It was noted that, during 2021, the DPP appeared in 25 matters in the Court of Appeal (CoA). Of those 25 appeals, 10 were for the offence of murder, 6 for sexual offences, 2 for the offence of fraudulent conversion and one each for the offences of manslaughter, dangerous driving, obtaining upon a forged document, possession of explosives, obtaining money by false pretence, robbery under arms, attempt to commit murder with an alternative of wounding with intent.

In seven of those matters, the CoA affirmed the convictions but varied the sentences. Another appellant was granted his application to appeal and will have a new trial; three applications were dismissed and two appellants had their convictions and sentences set aside.

Seven appellants were granted an extension of time to file and serve notices of appeal, one application for bail pending appeal was granted, three appellants withdrew their applications to appeal and one applicant decided he will pursue his application to appeal despite a notice of abandonment.

Also in 2021, the Demerara Full Court sat for three matters. One of those cases was for the offence of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking. The court allowed the appellant’s application to quash the conviction and set aside the sentence. The other two matters were for illegal entry into Guyana. Those appellants had their sentences reduced and were ordered deported.

Meanwhile, the Berbice Full Court heard 20 matters for the various criminal offences which included dangerous driving, abusive and threatening language and assault.

Four appellants withdrew their applications to appeal. The court allowed six applications; three of those in part, when it affirmed the convictions and reduced the sentences of the appellants; two others were successful in having their convictions and sentences set aside, while the other one had the conviction affirmed but had a $125, 000 fine imposed on him.

The court dismissed 8 applications. In one of those, the court varied the appellants’ sentence with a fine of $50,000; in another four, it ruled it had no jurisdiction, while in the other three, there were no appearances by legal counsel, and the matters were dismissed. Two appellants were allowed their applications to appeal against magistrates’ decisions.

In June and October, the DPP appeared in the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) for two matters. One of those was an appeal filed by murder accused Marcus Bisram against a ruling made by the Guyana Court of Appeal that there was sufficient evidence for him to be committed for trial for the offence of murder in the High Court. The CCJ has granted him a stay in the matter pending the appeal.

The other appeal was that of Calvin Ramcharran for the offence of rape and causing actual bodily harm. The arguments in that matter have been completed and the CCJ will rule soon in the case. Two other convicted prisoners, Bibi Shareema Gopaul and Jarvis Small have since filed appeals to the CCJ against their convictions and sentences, the release added.