Eighteen of 329 cases disposed of at April assizes

Of the 329 cases listed for hearing in the April 2021 session of the Demerara criminal assizes, only 18 matters were disposed of, one of which the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) declared nolle prosequi.

Of the 17 cases presented, the majority - 11, were for murder and six for Sexual Offences.

Of all of the matters heard, the prosecution was able only to secure six convictions. There were four acquittals, two formal verdicts of not guilty and in five cases, the accused threw themselves at the mercy of the court, entering guilty pleas.

State attorneys Seeta Bishundial and Tyra Bakker presented two murder indictments before Justice Brassington Reynolds.

In one of those cases, the accused pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. In another, the jury found the accused guilty of the lesser offence and he was sentence to 15 years.

Prosecutors Nafeeza Baig and Sarah Martin completed six cases for Sexual Offences.

In three of them, the accused were acquitted, while in the other three the accused were all found unanimously guilty. Two of them were sentenced to 20 and 18 years imprisonment respectively; while the other is awaiting sentence.

Nine capital indictments were presented before Justice Sandil Kissoon by Prosecutor Lisa Cave.

In one of those cases, the judge upheld a no-case submission and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.

In another, the jury returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty; and in the other four cases, the accused all pleaded guilty to the lesser offence.

In two of the cases, one accused had two separate trials—in the first trial, he was indicted for the capital offence and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Meanwhile, in the other trial for which he was indicted on murder, attempted murder and discharging a loaded firearm, he was again sentenced to life imprisonment, and 20 years each on the other two counts which will run concurrently.

The other two accused were respectively sentenced to life imprisonment and 15 years imprisonment.

In another trial in which two accused were jointly indicted, the trial judge upheld a no-case submission for one; while the jury unanimously found the coaccused guilty of murder. He is still awaiting sentence.

Meanwhile, in another trial, the accused who was indicted on three counts of murder was found unanimously guilty on all counts and will be sentenced on June 16th. One matter is still pending.

In the matter declared to be nolle prosequi by the DPP, the complainant in a written statement indicated she no longer wanted to proceed.

The Demerara session commenced April 6th and ended on May 31st.