Jury to decide fate of Pritipaul security guard charged with murder

May 01, 2018 News

Accused: Marlon Callender

The murder trial of Marlon Callender is set this week, for summing up before Justice Sandil Kissoon, at the Georgetown High Court.
Callender , 27, a former security guard attached to Pritipaul Singh’s Investments Inc. (PSI), is indicted for the murder of Envil Pollard called “Elvis” or “Rastaman.”
The 45-year-old fisherman and father of eight was said to been fatally shot by Callender, during a confrontation at PSI Wharf, McDoom, East Bank Demerara. Pollard was reportedly shot to the neck and groin with a shotgun. The incident occurred on January 9, 2015.
At the commencement of his trial in the High Court, Callender pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The accused further denied the allegation while leading his defence, yesterday.
Giving an unsworn testimony, Callender stood in the prisoner’s dock and told the judge and jury that he is innocent of the crime for which he has been charged. He recalled that on the day of the shooting, he did not intend to harm anyone.
The accused told the court that when he reported for duty at Pritipaul Wharf, he received a radio message from another security officer that Pollard, called “Rastaman”, was behaving disorderly. He said that he ventured to the wharf to provide assistance and possibly diffuse the situation.
However according to Callender, when he arrived at the area of the wharf, he met with Pollard, who continued to exhibit disorderly behaviour.
The accused noted that he was on duty and was armed with a 12-gauge shotgun, which contained rounds of ammunition.
Callender claimed that during the confrontation, Pollard who was in fishing boat, continued hurling abusive and threatening language towards him.
He said that he cautioned Pollard to desist from behaving disorderly but the man continued. The accused said that several minutes into the confrontation, the accused climbed on to the wharf with a knife in his hand.
At this point, Callender told the Court that he again warned the man to remove from the wharf but he refused. It was then, that the accused claimed that the man began advancing towards him with the weapon.
He said he felt threatened and he fired a warning shot but the man did not back down. He said he therefore fired another shot; this time it hit Pollard and stopped him in his tracks.
Callender told the court that he was only trying to protect himself while performing his duties. He expressed regret that it cost a life.
During his closing address to the jury, Attorney-at-law, Everston Lammy-Singh, essentially stated that his client (Callender) was acting in the execution of his duty when he fired the shot, which unfortunately lead to Pollard’s death.
The lawyer told the court that based on the evidence” it is clear” that his client did not intend to kill or cause any grievous bodily harm to the fisherman.
State Prosecutors Lisa Cave, who is presenting the case in association with Attorney Mandel Moore, dismissed the defence as rubbish.
The Prosecutor noted that the defence account of what happened on the day that the fisherman was shot, “just does not add up.”
Cave noted that the fisherman was a significant distance away from the accused, when he shot him.
She noted that based on the evidence, the shooter was standing on the wharf and the fisherman was in a boat which was some distance away in the river.
“Members of the jury, did you ever hear of the saying, you don’t take a knife to a gunfight? Well that is exactly what happened here.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this accused expects you to believe that he was threatened by man who had a knife in his hand. That man was in a boat, which was several feet away from where he was standing with a shotgun in his hand.”
The Prosecutor pointed out that it was impossible for the fisherman to have been on the wharf because his body was recovered nowhere close to the wharf, but in his fishing boat.
Cave therefore contended that the “trigger happy accused” would have intended to shoot and cause grievous bodily harm to Pollard.
The Prosecutor asked the jury to take all the factors into consideration when determining the fate of the accused.
The case will be placed before the jury for deliberation, when the matter resumes on Wednesday.

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