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Election fraud trial: Prosecution complained about structure of cross-examination of Rasul
Kaieteur News- The ongoing election fraud trial resumed on Tuesday, with election observer Rosalinda Rasul continuing her testimony.
During the proceedings, the prosecution expressed concerns about the defence’s approach to cross-examining the witness, specifically regarding the structure in which multiple defence attorneys were questioning her one at a time. The case is being heard at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court before Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty.
Election fraud trial: Prosecution complained about structure of cross-examination of Rasul
The defence team, which includes prominent attorneys Nigel Hughes, Eusi Anderson, Dominic Bess, Darren Wade, Ronald Daniels, and Dexter Todd, has been representing the nine accused individuals in the matter. So far, two defence lawyers have completed their cross-examinations of Rasul.
Before the cross-examination resumed on Tuesday, Special Prosecutor Dharshan Ramdhani KC, leading the prosecution, raised concerns about having each defence attorney questioning the witness individually. He expressed his doubts about the practicality and fairness of this approach.
In response, Hughes defended the structure, explaining that the cross-examination method was designed to benefit the defendants. “Madam, I don’t believe this makes any practical difference or reasoning regarding the consequences of the response given by a witness, even if counsel appearing for one particular defendant applies across the board. The responses don’t apply across the board,” Hughes argued. He elaborated further, explaining that the defence team had devised a particular strategy in which each lawyer primarily represents one defendant but also cross-examines witnesses on behalf of other defendants due to the joint conspiracy charges. “The way we have structured this madam is each one of the defendants has an attorney at leads for each to cross-examine the witness. Each one has a leading lawyer, but we all collectively appeared before each of the other defendants. It allows cross-examination to done by each attorney,” Hughes stated.
However, King’s Counsel Thomas Astaphan expressed scepticism about this legal structure, stating, that he has never heard of such a structure during cross-examination. He said, “each of the lawyers can examine each of the witnesses—if that is the case for the defence, why can’t it be the same for us? I have never heard that.” Hughes further clarified that not all defence lawyers would be cross-examining every witness.
The prosecution also questioned which defence attorney represented which defendant in the trial. In response, Magistrate McGusty asked the defence team to submit a list to the court outlining which attorney represented each defendant.
During the cross-examination, defence attorneys Ronald Daniels and Darren Wade questioned Rasul. Daniels completed his questioning, while Wade’s cross-examination is scheduled to continue on Wednesday at 13:00hrs. The defendants in the case include the former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield of Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM); former Returning Officer for District Four Clairmont Mingo; former Deputy Chief Elections Officer Roxanne Myers; former Minister of Health Volda Lawrence;’ APNU+AFCs Chief Scrutineer Carol Smith-Joseph; and former GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Liven, Michelle Miller, and Denise Babb-Cummings.
The charges allege that, between March 2 and August 2, 2020, the accused conspired to manipulate the results of the 2020 elections at the Ashmins’ Building in Georgetown, defrauding the electors of Guyana.
(Election fraud trial: Prosecution complained about structure of cross-examination of Rasul)
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