Berbice counterfeit saga… Defence makes ‘serious allegations’ against state, magistrate

Dec 18, 2019 News

…says crime lab acting head should be in jail

‘Serious allegations’ were on Monday made from the defence bench against the prosecutors and the previous magistrate of the case against Mool Manniram and Reshma Manniram who are accused of being in possession of a quantity of counterfeit United States currency.
The matter was called before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts for reassignment following Magistrate Alex Moore’s decision to recuse himself from the matter.
In January 2018, the couple was found with the alleged counterfeit currency in their Crabwood Creek, Upper Corentyne home.
Yesterday, attorney-at-law Glen Hanoman, in a packed court, said that he is of the opinion that the then acting head of the Guyana Forensic Science Laboratory (GFSL), Tamika Henry, should be jailed for willfully attempting to pervert the course of justice.’
In fact, the lawyer said, “As far as I am concerned, the head of the forensic science lab should be in jail.”
In announcing his recusion, Magistrate Moore had indicated that he received a phone call from Henry saying she is disappointed with the manner in which he is handling the case.
The magistrate gave a well-detailed announcement to the court as he said the call was specifically about a witness from the lab being deemed an expert in counterfeit currency analysis.
Moreover, the attorney told the court that ranks from the Custom Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), on the day of the search of his clients home, destroyed their furniture, took away a DVR and drank out the beverages in their refrigerator.
He added that these ranks should be charged for damage to property and stealing as it is a clear abuse of power by the state.
According to Hanoman, given the fact that the matter was coming to a close, the manner in which the Magistrate recused himself might be deliberate as the defence was about to get a ruling that the ‘expert’ witness is not an expert.
He also said that if his clients were the ones to have called the magistrate, they would be imprisoned. He added that results from the lab will now be hard to trust.
Following the remarks made by the lawyer Magistrate McLennan instructed the prosecution to put together the file of the case and have it sent to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for advice.
In the meantime, the matter was transferred to the Whim Magistrate’s Court for January 9, 2020 when a new trial is expected to commence.

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