WPA rips into decision to end Hinds, Lewis...

problems and being frustrated while awaiting word on her application for a job as a traffic warden with the Police Force, the prosecutor stressed that it was because of this frustration that Rutherford killed her children.

“We all have problems. But having problems doesn’t give you the right to kill your children,” Lyken emphasized.

In his testimony yesterday, Detective Police Corporal Dellon Fraser recalled that after putting the allegation to the accused, she responded, “Officer, problems. Everybody blaming me.”

He said the woman then told him of purchasing three tablets, two of which she drank, while the other, she divided in half for each of the children.

Rutherford too had been hospitalized for some time after drinking the tablets.

Questioned by defence attorney Adrian Thompson, Fraser said the accused did not specify what type of tablets she had bought.

Lyken also called on the jury to assess Rutherford’s credibility, noting the change in her story from initially buying the tablets from a man on the road, to her later story of making the purchase from a pharmacy.

The prosecutor credited the drastic change in Rutherford’s story to what she opined may have been an apparent realisation that “her story ain’t looking too good,” and so would have to make it more believable.

In an impassioned plea to find the accused guilty, Lyken drew the jury’s attention to the inescapably distinct scent which carbon tablets carry, arguing that her story cannot be believed, as the odour would likely have raised suspicion at that point.

The prosecutor surmised that there was no need for the accused to be suspicious because she knew exactly what she was doing, while stressing that WPA the right to free political expression is sacrosanct to the party’s political culture and will not be traded for political expediency or accommodation. We have never in the history of our party subjected any leader, activist or member who in their individual capacity choose to comment on matters of public interest, to censorship”, the party contended.

The party said that the endorsement of this “act of political repression by the Board of the Guyana Chronicle demonstrates the fragility of our democracy. The inability of the board to appreciate its role and recognize its essential mandate as the custodians of a state paper which should ensure that the views of all are permitted, that freedom of the press should be sacrosanct and allow such a decision to stand does not bode well for the future of this paper and what we can in future expect from the board as it stands”, the WPA argued. any “cold tablet” with such a scent to be administered to children would raise some amount of concern.

To this end, the prosecutor asked the jury to consider Dr. Singh’s evidence regarding cause of death and the fact that he indicated that so strong is the scent of carbon tablets, that the odor was still present when he performed the autopsies four days later.

The Doctor had stated that after tests were conducted, the substance ingested was positive for aluminum Phosphide, the poisonous component in carbon tablets.

Likening Rutherford’s story to a “drowning man clutching at straws,” Lyken told the jury that if there was one person in the entire world to protect the children, it was the accused.

For his part, Thompson, however, stressed that his client at no time intentionally poisoned her children.

In his testimony, Cadogan had told the court that he and Rutherford’s relationship ended in November 2013, but noted that he always supported his children through remittances, in addition to barrels he sent to the accused for their upkeep.

When asked, he told Thompson that he and the accused got along well and had no problems, but recalled her relating to him, problems she was having with her new partner at the time.

Cadogan testified to receiving certain information on the night his children died and travelling home to Guyana two days later.

The visibly emotional man recounted visiting the Georgetown Hospital Morgue where he identified the body of his children to Dr. Singh for autopsies to be performed.

He said their bodies were then handed over to him and taken to the Jerrick’s Funeral Home, following which they were buried on April 6, 2014.

Questioned under cross examination, the witness initially told Thompson that he had no recollection of his children suffering from asthma. Further pressed, however, he then said he remembers Jabari being treated for the condition.

He, however, said he knew of no wheezing or asthma related problems from which his daughter suffered.

The accused lamented how much she loved her children, and the trauma with which she lives every day through the memory of having lost them.

Because of her uncontrollable sobs and moaning sounds, Rutherford’s testimony was initially barely audible.

This prompted Justice Navindra Singh to sound a stern warning to the accused to speak coherently, as it was difficult to decipher what she was saying.

The Judge told Thompson that he would not record anything his client had to say if he could not understand her testimony.

Immediately composing herself thereafter, Rutherford clearly declared, “I did not buy rat poison for my children.”

She then complained of not being fairly treated by investigators, who she said had blamed her from the beginning for the death of the children.

Noting that there were no witnesses to call in Rutherford’s defence, Thompson closed his case.

The trial continues this morning at 9 at the Georgetown High Court where the Judge will sum up the case and hand it over to the jury for the possible return of a verdict.

The state’s case is being led by Lyken, in association with Prosecutors Shawnette Austin and Abigail Gibbs.