Drug charge against Victoria man dismissed

Dec 02, 2012 News

Victoria, East Coast Demerara resident Roy Elias walked out the Wales Magistrate’s Court a free man after Magistrate Ann McLennan upheld a no case submission made on his behalf by Attorney-at-Law, Lyndon Amsterdam.
The Police had charged Elias for possession of 1,135 grams of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking, contrary to the Narcotics, Drug and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act 1988. The defendant had pleaded ‘not guilty’ when the charge was read to him.
The allegation against Elias was that on the 26th May, 2012, acting on information received, a party of policemen went to a shop at Vriesland Public Road, West Bank Demerara ,and saw a “male Rastafarian standing next to a gift bag on a shelf”.
Constable Michael Clarke approached the man and enquired if the bag belonged to him and he replied ‘no.’ The policeman then took possession of the bag and after finding that it contained leaves, seeds and stems which appeared to be marijuana, he then arrested Elias and took him to the Wales Police Station.
At the station, the Constable placed the bag and its contents on a scale and found that it weighed 1,135 grams.
During the trial, Defence Counsel Amsterdam questioned the Police Officers on the fact that the Defendant, Roy Elias, was not shown to be in physical possession of the gift bag neither was he shown to be in constructive possession either.
Additionally, Constable Clarke accepted that the gift bag has a weight by itself and the fact that the bag was placed on the scale along with the contents meant that the amount of marijuana in the charge was more than the actual leaves, seeds and stems.
The Prosecution also called Corporal Lakhram Gurdial and the Shopkeeper in an attempt to prove their case. But the Shopkeeper could not identify the Defendant in Court neither could she remember the colour of the gift bag.
At the close of the Prosecution’s case, Defence Counsel made a No Case Submission, that the Prosecution had failed to establish a Prima Facie case against the Defendant and therefore he should not be called to lead a Defence.
In upholding the No Case Submission, Magistrate McLennan observed that there are several grounds on which the submission could be upheld, but only highlighted the fact that the weight in the Charge could not be accurate based on the procedure followed by Constable Michael Clarke and therefore dismissed the charge against the defendant Elias, who walked out of the courtroom smiling.

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Drug charge against Victoria man dismissed

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Drug charge against Victoria man dismissed

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