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GDF Captain freed again after second court martial

Apr 11, 2010 News

For the second time, a Judge Advocate in the Court Martial of Captain Ronald Hope of the Guyana Defence Force, has declared the summary of evidence proceedings a nullity due to procedural irregularities.

Last Tuesday at Camp Ayanganna, in the second trial by Court Martial of Captain Hope, Judge Advocate, Justice Oslen Small, upheld the defence submissions made by attorney-at-law Gregory Gaskin and discharged the accused and brought the trial to an end.

Captain Hope first appeared on Court Martial in October 2009, charged for the unlawful uplifting of a service pistol from the arms stores at Camp Stephenson, Timehri.

That trial was aborted in November 2009 when the then Judge Advocate Justice Winston Moore found in favour of the defence that the trial was a nullity due to procedural irregularities in the Summary of Evidence proceedings.

Such proceedings are closely akin to the committal proceedings that are preliminary to an indictable trial before judge and jury.

At that first trial, the State was represented by prosecuting attorney at law Melissa Stewart and the defence attorneys were Leslie Sobers, Gregory Gaskin and Trenton Lake.

The second trial by Court Martial of Captain Ronald Hope on the same charge began in December 2009 and was presided over by Lt. Colonel K Persaud and with Justice Oslen Small sitting as Judge Advocate.

The State was again represented by prosecuting attorney Melissa Stewart while Gaskin led a team that also comprised attorneys at law Trenton Lake and Chandrawattie Persaud.

Early in January this year, as the first prosecution witness was being cross-examined, it was revealed that yet again there were breaches of procedure with respect to the summary of evidence.

At this juncture the defence successfully applied for a Voir Dire so as to explore the admissibility of evidence from four of the State’s six witnesses.

The Voir Dire lasted two months and at its end, the learned Judge Advocate upheld the submissions of the defence and declared this second Court martial a nullity due to grave irregularities and defects in the summary of evidence proceedings.

Captain Ronald Hope is once more a free man.

In an invited comment, attorneys at law Gregory Gaskin and Trenton Lake opined that the Army had once again shot itself in the foot, and that any future attempt to re-lay charges against Captain Hope would be met by strenuous and lengthy pre-trial challenges of several sorts.

Attorney at law Gregory Gaskin further questioned the bona fides of the GDF high command in its relentless pursuit of Captain Hope by way of court martial, for an offence that has routinely been tried summarily by unit Commanding Officers.

This is especially obnoxious, he said, when it has recently come to light that the GDF is treating departmentally with an officer of similar rank who has lost a GDF pistol with full magazine while on a frolic of his own at a popular city night spot.

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