Full Court sets convicted drug trafficker free

Mar 25, 2018 News

Dwayne King

– Cites evidence did not conclusively tie accused to the crime
The Georgetown High Court has ruled in favour of an application to overturn the 60-month jail sentence of convicted drug trafficker, Dwayne King.
King was jailed for 60 months for attempting to smuggle 2.9 kilogrammes of cocaine via the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).
According to the details of the case King, 33, of 165 Stanleytown, West Bank Demerara, (WBD) was accused by United Kingdom-based Guyanese girlfriend, Vanessa Moore of setting her up with the cocaine which was found in El Dorado rum bottles.
He was found guilty of trafficking and sentenced to sixty months by Magistrate Judy Latchman.
At the conclusion of his trial, Magistrate Latchman said she reached her decision based on the evidence presented by the prosecution’s eight witnesses, including Moore.
The magistrate said she believed that King had access to the rum, despite his denials, and had sufficient time to place the drugs into the bottles.
She said, too, that she believed that King used Moore and gained her trust so that she could smuggle the drugs out of the country for him.
After the guilty verdict was handed down, King’s attorney, George Thomas, had asked the court to consider the fact that his client is a first time offender and his age.
In sentencing, Magistrate Latchman stated that she took into consideration the manner in which the drugs were concealed, the manner in which the defendant attempted to smuggle the drugs, the prevalence of the offence and the need to prohibit others from committing the said offence.
King was therefore sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment and fined $30,000. Following his sentence, the convicted drug trafficker, appealed to the Full Court of the High Court seeking an order to overturn the conviction.
This week, Justices JoAnn Barlow and Sandil Kissoon in a Full Court decision pointed to what the Court considered to be speculation by the Magistrate in making a determination in King‘s case.
In the ruling, the Court noted that speculation is not a practice that is accepted in law. The Court therefore surmised that the Magistrate needed to carefully consider the evidence before her. Justice Barlow pointed out that the matter is one of circumstantial evidence which should have high standards of consideration in making a decision.
In making a determination, the Court noted that Magistrate Latchman should have carefully considered the evidence of King’s ex –girlfriend, (Moore) “as someone with an interest in the case or having an axe to grind,” since she was in prison when she implicated him in the crime.
Moore was arrested at the CJIA after she was found with cocaine concealed in two bottles of El Dorado rum.
Investigations later revealed that Moore had been in the company of King before she was apprehended and that the defendant had fled after the drugs were discovered.
Moore had said that she had been given the two bottles of rum by King, who had asked her to deliver them to a friend in London.
In making a determination last week, the Court noted that while King was implicated in the crime by his then partner, there was no conclusive evidence that he had placed the drugs in the cocaine-laced liquor.
Taking those and other matters into consideration, the Full Court ruled setting King free of the conviction and sentence. During the matter before the High Court, King was represented by Attorney -at –Law, Lyndon Amsterdam. Attorney Natasha Backer presented on behalf of the State.

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