Latest update November 15th, 2024 1:00 AM
Magistrate rules that CCTV footage admissible in Ian Mekdeci fatal accident case
Dead: Ian Mekdeci
Kaieteur News – Senior Magistrate Leron Daly on Tuesday ruled that CCTV footage is admissible as evidence in the Ian Mekdeci case. Mekdeci, a former national squash player was killed in an accident in 2022. He was 27 years old at the time of his death.
The trial continues today at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. Thirty-Nine year-old Roberto Narine was charged for the fatal accident. The charge alleges that on May 1, 2022 at the intersection of Sandy Babb Street and Vlissengen Road Kitty, Georgetown, he drove in a manner dangerous to the public, thereby causing the death of Mekdeci.
During a February hearing, there were objections regarding the admissibility of CCTV footage capturing the accident. Narine’s defence lawyer, Siand Dhurjon, contended that the footage acquisition process, involving transfer from a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) to a flash drive and subsequently onto a disc, raised procedural concerns.
Responding to the defence’s objections, Special Prosecutor Latchmi Rahamat, insisted on written submissions, contending that the defence’s proposal to play the video, followed by cross-examination of the prosecution’s witness and then raising objections was not the appropriate procedure to follow. She reminded the court that the defence was misapplying the best evidence rule. She emphasised that, based on the court’s own knowledge, this is the standard procedure employed by the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Video Analyst Unit in presenting evidence in criminal cases across the country.
Charged: Roberto Narine
The objections had prompted Senior Magistrate Daly to instruct both parties to present their written submissions for consideration, facilitating a decision on the trial’s progression.
Initially, Dhurjon had until February to submit objections regarding the CCTV footage. However, he had requested more time to file his submissions, which Magistrate Daly granted, adjourning the case to May 2024. However, when that date came the matter was further adjourned.
However, on Tuesday after several months of delays, Magistrate Daly ruled that the footage could be admitted as evidence and cited the Evidence Act in her decision.
Narine was charged with two offences: driving under the influence and causing death by dangerous driving. In April 2023, the DUI charge was thrown out. According to reports, Narine’s Jeep #PTT 4136 had crashed into a car that Mekdeci was travelling in, around 02:10 hours on the day in question.
The car was at the time being driven by Mekdeci’s friend Sheik Baksh, and they were reportedly heading west along Sandy Babb Street. When they arrived at the intersection of Vlissengen Road, the traffic light at their end was green and Baksh proceeded to drive across but as he was doing so, a jeep, allegedly driven by Narine and heading north along Vlissengen Road jumped the red light and crashed into them.
As a result of the accident, both Baksh and Mekdeci were severely injured. An ambulance was called and they were both rushed to GPHC where Mekdeci died while receiving treatment. Police had arrested Narine and when they conducted a breathalyzer test on him, the results showed that his Breath Alcohol Content (BAC) was 161 and 151 percent, way above the legal limit.
However, Narine’s DUI charge was thrown out last year by Magistrate Clive Nurse after he upheld Dhurjon’s no-case submission that an unauthorized officer conducted a flawed breathalyzer procedure on Narine using a device unapproved for the said purpose.
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