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Jury deadlocked in trial of brothers accused of near death attack on man
Around 19:10hrs on Thursday, jurors announced that they were deadlocked in the trial of 29-year-old Brian Joseph and his younger brother Dequan Small, who are both charged for the near fatal beating of a Diamond, East Bank Demerara man.
The beating occurred over a decade ago.
Brian Joseph
The declaration from the 12- member mixed jury came in almost five hours after they retired for deliberations during which, at some stage, they requested further directions from trial Judge Sandil Kissoon.
Joseph is accused of wounding Shawn Hussain, also known as ‘Chubby’ on June 24, 2007, at Lot 63 Diamond, East Bank Demerara, with intent to commit murder. In the alternative, he is charged with wounding Hussain, with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm, or to maim, disfigure or disable him.
On the other hand, the charge against Small alleged that on June 24, 2007, he did aid, abet, counsel and procure Joseph to commit an offence. Upon their arraignment, both of them pleaded not guilty to the allegations.
The jury forewoman disclosed that she and the other jurors were unable to arrive at verdicts for any of the offences for which the brothers were indicted. When asked by the trial judge whether further directions would assist the jury in arriving at a verdict, the jury forewoman responded in the negative.
As such, Justice Kissoon informed the brothers that they will remain on bail pending another trial which will be announced in due course by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
During his testimony, Hussain who is currently serving a jail sentence for an unrelated offence, told the court that the brothers are known “trouble makers” in the community, and are in the habit of bullying people.
He said that on the day in question, the brothers passed by his home where he was lying in a hammock and called out for him.
According to Hussain, he raised his hands in acknowledgement. He recalled that sometime after, the brothers passed by his home again and requested to speak with him, and he went out of his yard to do so.
Once outside, he said that it was Joseph who lashed him to the side of his head knocking him unconscious.
The witness recalled being beaten about the body and that he only regained consciousness while undergoing treatment in the hospital.
When questioned by Prosecutor Lisa Cave whether he had any problems with the brothers, Hussain replied in the negative, adding that neither was he armed with any weapon. He, however disclosed that an argument erupted between him and one of the brothers over cash he had in his pocket, and that it was Small who approached him to clarify the problem after which he was severely beaten.
While under cross-examination by defence counsel Michael Sommersall, who was retained by both brothers, Hussain dismissed claims that he was under the influence of either alcohol or drugs, or that he was armed with a gun when the incident occurred.
Questioned about a dent in his head, Hussain sought to explain that he sustained the injury because of the beating.
According to the complainant, he underwent surgery for his injuries and although the incident happened 11 years ago, he is still under medication.
Dr. Dwayne Kellman, who was also called as a witness, told the court that the injuries Hussain sustained were life-threatening.
It was at this point that the State closed its case and defence counsel put forward a no-case submission, which was overruled by the trial Judge. Consequently, the brothers were called on to tell their side of the story. They elected to give unsworn testimony.
Joseph, who addressed the court for over 25 minutes, claimed that he was attacked by Hussain who was armed with a gun. He added that he feared for his life and picked a length of wood and lashed Hussain – who had uttered certain racist and derogatory remarks to him.
Small, in his address to the court, made it clear that he was nowhere around when the alleged beating occurred and that police visited his home where they arrested him.
Joseph called a few witnesses to substantiate his story, one of them being his sister, who told the court that police took a statement from her, but she was never called to testify.
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