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Judge gives DPP 30 days to proceed with ‘Two Colours’ indictment
Kaieteur News – High Court Judge, Navindra Singh, has ordered the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, SC, to present the indictment of the State against Lennox Wayne within 30 days from last Friday, when a ruling was given refusing his application for a permanent stay of the murder charge.
Lennox Wayne called “Two Colours.”
Wayne called ‘Two Colours,’ is charged with the murder of Ashmini Harriram, the 19-year-old Lusignan, East Coast Demerara, cosmetologist who was shot and killed on July 10, 2014.
Wayne and his former co-accused, Melroy Doris, had faced a trial in the High Court but were remanded to prison after the jury failed to meet a verdict for the murder charge.
Last March, Doris appeared before Justice, Brassington Reynolds, and pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. He was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for the crime after the Court considered the time he already spent in pre-trial custody among other factors.
However, Wayne chose not to go that route and filed civil proceedings against the State claiming a breach of right to a fair hearing.
Through his attorney, Nigel Hughes, Wayne asked the High Court for several orders, including an order for a permanent stay of the murder charge and a declaration that his rights, guaranteed by the provisions of Article 144 of the Constitution of Guyana, have been infringed.
Judge, Navindra Singh.
According to an affidavit to support his claim, the murder accused asked the Court to consider inter alia that he had been incarcerated for the crime since October 2014.
Wayne and Doris had faced a previous trial in the High Court for the murder back in 2017.The proceedings ended in a hung jury verdict and trial Judge, Jo Ann Barlow, informed the two accused that they “will have to remain in custody and undergo another trial during another session of the Demerara Criminal Assizes.”
Ever since then they have been behind bars. In his application to stay the murder charge, detailed, among other things, the unnecessary delays in bringing his case to an end.
However, in a ruling handed down on Friday, the High Court Judge, found that Wayne’s constitutional right to a fair trial within a reasonable time has not been infringed. Addressing the claims of delay in trial, Justice Singh pointed out that inter alia the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the suspension of jury trials in March 2020 and the fact that the DPP averred that she was prepared to proceed with the trial in January 2021.
Further, the Court found that Wayne in indicating his willingness to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and actively engaging in discussions about such a plea with the DPP, effectively waived any period of delay prior to such indication.
The DPP had issued a previous statement clarifying that the accused has the option of pleading guilty to the lesser crime. The statement stipulated that “on several occasions, Wayne has indicated that his wish was to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter; the last indication was made in November 2020.”
“At the time that the DPP was prepared to proceed with the trial in January 2021, [Wayne’s] indication of willingness to plead guilty to the lesser included offence of manslaughter and therefore forego a trial is diametrically opposed to his claim that his right to a trial within a reasonable time has been infringed, particularly when he shortly thereafter instituted this motion.”
Justice Singh added that “as long as a fair trial is possible it is in the public interest that cases should be tried.”
In those circumstances, the Judge refused Wayne’s application for a permanent stay of prosecution.
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