THE January session of the Demerara Criminal Assizes had commenced on Tuesday, January 9 with 259 cases listed to be heard, of which, 42 were disposed of.

Of the 42 matters, 26 were presented at the Demerara High Court while 16 were nolle prosequi.

Justices Sandil Kissoon, Priya Sewnarine-Beharry and Simone Morris-Ramlall presided over these assizes, according to a report from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Of the 26 cases presented, 11 were for murder, three each for manslaughter and attempt to commit murder and nine for sexual offences. There were five convictions, seven verdicts of not guilty by jury, six formal verdicts of not guilty, nine guilty pleas and one hung jury.

There was a total of 28 accused persons in relation to these matters.

State Counsel Joy Williams, State Counsel Caressa Henry, State Counsel Padma Dubraj and State Counsel Alvaro Ramotar prosecuted 13 matters before Justice Sewnarine-Beharry.

Of these 13 matters, seven were for murder, three for manslaughter and three for attempt to commit murder. ln five of the murder matters, the accused all pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter; three of them were respectively sentenced to nine years, seven years and 12 years’ imprisonment while the other two were sentenced to eight years respectively.

ln another one of these murder trials, the accused was sentenced at the court’s pleasure and ordered to serve a minimum of eight years in custody. The other case had two accused and they were both acquitted by unanimous jury verdicts of not guilty.

ln two of the manslaughter cases, Justice Sewnarine-Beharry upheld no case submissions and directed the juries to return formal verdicts of not guilty.
The jury in the other case returned a not guilty verdict.

ln one of the three cases for attempted murder and wounding with intent, the trial Judge upheld a no case submission and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty. The accused in another matter was found guilty by jury on the alternative count of wounding with intent and will be sentenced on May 10 and in the third case, one accused pleaded guilty as charged and will also be sentenced on May 10.

State Counsel Rbina Christmas, State Counsel Praneta Seeraj and State Counsel Simran Gajraj completed four matters for the offence of murder before Justice Morris-Ramlall.

ln one of these cases, the accused pleaded guilty as charged and was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment. ln another one, the main state witness testified that she did not wish to give further evidence and the trial Judge directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.

ln one of the two other cases, there were two accused indicted together; they were both found unanimously guilty of the lesser offence of manslaughter and sentenced to life imprisonment.

They will respectively serve 25 years and 21 years before being eligible for parole.

ln the other case, the accused who was indicted on two counts of murder was found unanimously guilty by the jury on both counts. His sentencing hearing is deferred to April 4.

State Counsel Latifah Elliot, State Counsel Nafeeza Baig, State Counsel Yonika Rowland, State Counsel Abiola Lowe and State Counsel Marisa Edwards presented nine matters in the Sexual Offences Court before Justice Kissoon.

ln four of these matters, the accused were all acquitted by jury verdicts of not guilty. ln another one, the trial Judge upheld a no-case submission and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty. The jury in the other case, failed to reach a verdict and returned hung. As such, the accused was remanded back to prison to await a new trial. ln another two septate trials, both accused pleaded guilty; their sentences have been deferred to April. One matter remains in progress.

Sixteen matters were nolle prosequi by the DPP; three for the offence of murder, two for attempt to commit murder and 11 for sexual offences. The accused in two of these matters have died while in another, one accused had his committal quashed in the High Court.

The main witnesses in another case could not be found despite several efforts to locate them. The complainants in the other cases submitted written statements that they did not wish to proceed with their matters. The Demerara April Criminal Assizes will commence on April 2.

A total of 224 matters are listed to be heard. Justices Jo-Ann Barlow, Morris-Ramlall and Kissoon are rostered to sit.