AS the election fraud trial continued on Wednesday, several police officers took the stand in relation to a voir dire that commenced earlier in the week.
A voir dire, or trial within a trial, is a legal process held to determine the admissibility of certain evidence, such as confessions, video recordings, or statements made to police, before it is presented to a jury or admitted into the main trial.
The press cannot report on a voir dire, as publishing details could prejudice the fairness of the ongoing trial.
As the proceedings being heard before the Acting Chief Magistrate continued on Wednesday morning, the prosecution called officer Komal Pitamber to continue the evidence.
Subsequently, two other officers were brought to provide testimony in the case.
Earlier this week, it was noted that voir dire proceedings were being held to determine the admissibility of video-recorded interviews submitted by the prosecution as evidence against former Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo.
The proceedings are set to continue on Thursday.
Facing charges are former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield; former Deputy CEO Roxanne Myers; former Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo; former Health Minister under the previous A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) government, Volda Lawrence; and People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) member, Carol Smith-Joseph.
Also on trial are former Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) staffers Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Babb-Cummings, and Michelle Miller.
Collectively, they face 19 conspiracy charges, and are represented by a robust defence team.
Due to the charges arising from the same set of circumstances, the matters have been consolidated. Each defendant has pleaded not guilty to the charges and secured their release by posting significant cash bail.
The prosecution, led by King’s Counsel Darshan Ramdhanie, argued that each defendant played a “critical role” in the deliberate effort to inflate votes for the APNU+AFC and reduce votes for the Peoples Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
In the weeks that followed the contentious March 2, 2020, vote, Guyana’s judiciary was inundated with multiple applications and appeals filed by various political actors over the electoral process.
The saga lasted five months before a national recount, led by GECOM and a delegation from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), confirmed the PPP/C’s victory and ultimately led to the swearing-in of President Dr. Irfaan Ali on August 2, 2020.
The recount confirmed that the PPP/C won the elections with 233,336 votes against the APNU+AFC coalition’s 217,920.
The initial election results, announced by former CEO Lowenfield, claimed an APNU+AFC victory.