6 cases completed out of 234 in June session

Oct 05, 2012 News

Demerara Criminal Assizes…

Out of a total of 234 cases which were supposed to have been called during the June sitting of the Demerara Criminal Assizes, only six have been completed.
According to a release from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution, an initial 234 cases were listed to be heard before Madam Justice Roxanne George and Justice Franklin Holder who both presided during the June Assizes.

Only six cases out of 234 were completed during the June Demerara Criminal Assizes.

Three of the cases completed were heard by Justice George… two for the offence of
murder and one for rape while another two murders and one carnal knowledge were heard by Justice Holder.
In one of the murder trials, Justice George upheld a “no case submission” by Defence Counsel Richardson and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty. The State has appealed the decision by Madam Justice George to uphold the no-case submission. The accused was placed on self-recognizance pending the appeal.
In the second murder trial, the accused pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to eight years imprisonment. In the rape matter, the jury returned an 11 to 1 majority verdict of not guilty in favour of the accused.
Further, in Justice Holder’s court, three trials were done. Two were for murder and one for the offence of carnal knowledge. In the two murder cases, the trial judge upheld no-case submissions and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty while in the carnal knowledge matter, the trial judge ordered a retrial after a hung jury.
Three matters were nolle prosequi by the DPP- one for the offence of rape in which the victim did not wish to proceed. In the two other matters- one for manslaughter and another for rape – both of the accused died. The three matters that were nolle prosequi brought a total number of nine cases that were disposed of during the June Assizes… out of 234 listed to be heard.
In the Berbice June 2012 Criminal Assizes, there were 43 cases listed for hearing by Justice James Bovell-Drakes. Six matters were completed including three for murder, one for manslaughter, one for carnal knowledge, and one for abduction.
In the carnal knowledge case, the jury returned with an 11 to 1 not guilty verdict in favour of the accused. For the first murder trial conducted, the jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty for both accused; in the second murder case, a retrial was ordered by the trial judge as a result of a hung jury while in the third case, the accused pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to 21 years imprisonment by the trial judge.
The jury in the manslaughter case returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty for the accused. In the abduction case, the accused was found guilty and had a two-year suspended jail sentence imposed on him.
In this new session, in Berbice Judge Bovell-Drakes is reportedly set to proceed on 10 weeks of leave, further placing more strain on the judicial system.