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Stafrei Alexander faces second trial for attempted murder

Jun 21, 2018 News

Murder accused Stafrei Alexander will, next Monday, go on trial again for allegedly shooting his fellow Laing Avenue, Georgetown resident, Curtis Thom.
Alexander, who was among the inmates that broke out of the Camp Street prison last year, will stand before Justice Sandil Kissoon and a 12-member mixed jury at the High Court in Georgetown.
Particulars of the charge against Alexander allege that on March 23, 2015 in the county of Demerara, he discharged a loaded firearm at Thom with intent to commit murder.
This is the second time Alexander is being tried for the offence. His first trial before Justice Brassington Reynolds in October, last year ended in a hung jury. In other words, the jury was unable to arrive at a verdict.
At the end of that trial, the proportion of the verdict was nine guilty to three not guilty. However, the trial judge later discovered that one of the jurors was under the age of 18. That underage juror was duly discharged and the remaining 11 deliberated and found Alexander guilty by a 9-2 proportion. Justice Reynolds accepted that he had inaccurately formed the opinion that a verdict of such proportion could be accepted by the court.
The judge had revealed that he was guided by certain sections of the law. Justice Reynolds had noted then that because the panel was 11 and not 12 jurors, the Court could only accept a verdict in proportion 10 -1 as a majority.
Hence, the trial Judge discharged the panel after ruling that the trial ended in a hung jury. Thereafter the judge ordered a re-retrial for Alexander.
Defence Counsel Stanley Moore and the team of lawyers representing the State, agreed with the decision taken by the Court. Given the ruling, Alexander was remanded to prison to await his trial at another possible sitting of the assizes.
When Alexander was brought to court yesterday, he once again pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The prosecution is contending that Alexander and Thom are known to each other since they resided a few houses from each other in Laing Avenue, West Ruimveldt, Georgetown. It was pointed out that the two were never friends.
According to the prosecution, on the day in question Thom held a christening at his residence to welcome his baby daughter. When the event ended and the guests left in the wee hours of the following morning, Thom went to the back of the property to clean up and feed his dogs.
According to the prosecution, Alexander walked past Thom and grumbled something which Thom did not hear. But as Thom was entering his house in a backward-moving position, he saw Alexander standing next to him holding what appeared to be a ‘shine gun’.
The prosecution further contended that when Alexander shot Thom twice, he collapsed to the ground and began bleeding. The injured man underwent surgery and was hospitalized for some seven weeks.
Thom, it was stated, was able to see his shooter with the aid of lights attached to his home and surrounding buildings, but according to the prosecution, there is no eyewitness to the shooting nor was the gun used to shoot Thom recovered.
State Counsel Lisa Cave and Orinthia Schmidt are appearing for the prosecution in the re-trial.

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