THE Demerara High Court cleared Kalvin Murray, a 33-year-old taxi driver from Cane Grove, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara (ECD), of a rape accusation on Monday. Murray faced trial for the alleged rape of a 14-year-old schoolgirl on February 3, 2018. According to the prosecution, Murray brought the child to Mahaica beach and engaged in inappropriate touching.

In the trial, Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall and a diverse 12-member jury presided over the proceedings, while the adult complainant declined to testify against Murray.
As a result, the judge accepted Murray’s lawyer Kevin Morgan’s no-case submission and instructed the jury to deliver a formal verdict of not guilty.

In a statement, Morgan remarked, “Murray had professed his innocence in the Magistrate Court during committal proceedings conducted by Magistrate Wanda Fortune back in 2018. He continued to do so, and pointed out that the child was being forced to make the allegations against him.”

State Counsel Rabina Christmas and State Counsel Marisa Edwards prosecuted the matter.