Prosecutor says comments on potential bias in political trials misconstrued
-argues that charges against electoral officers should be tried by magistrate
Prosecutor Darshan Ramdhani QC has said that attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes has misconstrued his reasons for asking that Principal Magistrate Sherdel IsaacsMarcus proceed with a summary trial for the former, Chief Election Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, Deputy CEO Roxanne Myers and Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, who are charged with misconduct in public office.
In a press release issued yesterday, Hughes said that during the court proceedings on Tuesday, Ramdhani told the magistrate that a jury in the High Court would likely be prejudiced during the consideration of the charges against the trio. “When you consider the matter, please consider this a relevant fact — that these matters are grounded in allegations of elections misconduct and the accused persons cannot be tried fairly in the High Court. No one will ever have a fair trial in the High Court in political matters. We know what the politics of Guyana is like. Guyana is a politically polarised and ethnically divided society. No jury would be impartial in political matters,” Hughes quoted the prosecutor as saying.
During a telephone interview, Ramdhani, however, told this newspaper that on Tuesday the matter was called to address whether the magistrate should deal with the charges summarily or refer it for consideration by a judge and jury. It is Ramdhani’s legal view that the matters can be dealt with from beginning to end by a Magistrate, and specifically the Magistrate before whom the charges are currently. He further told this newspaper that the penalty, if either of the accused is convicted, is a maximum of one year imprisonment. He said that to debunk previous claims that the penalty that the offence attracts cannot be decided by a
magistrate.
Further, Ramdhani said that he told the court that a jury when dealing with a matter with a political element, such as exists in these cases, may likely be affected by their political biases or be perceived to be so affected. Ramdhani further told this newspaper that what he means is the jurors may have emotional bias because of whatever relationship and affiliation they may have with the public figures and political bias toward different political parties in the present case and considering the political divide in the country. However, Ramdhani said he was not contending that all trials in Guyana are unfair. He said that every day trials are carried out fairly but this case being concerned with allegations of political crimes is different.
He added that the professionally trained judicial officers, such as a magistrate
or a judge, are able to make decisions without prejudice or without there being any perception of bias. Hence, he is submitting to the court that the matter ought to be tried by the Magistrate.
He also said that Hughes has taken his statements in court and brought ethnicity into the discussion. He said that he never mentioned ethnicity being a factor. He stated that political views will likely play a role or be perceived to play a role when jurors are asked to give a verdict. “How is Mr. Hughes misconstruing this?” Ramdhani asked.
The proceedings are due to continue on January 31 when Ramdhani is expected to relay his submissions to have the three accused tried summarily. Lowenfield, Myers and Mingo are accused of conspiring with each other and together with Volda Lawrence, Carol Smith-Joseph,
Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Bobb-Cummings, Michelle Miller and others to defraud the electors of Guyana by declaring a false account of votes cast for the General Elections of March 2, 2020, between March 2, 2020 and August 2, 2020. It is also alleged that they and the others committed the same offence in relation to the Regional Elections of March 2, 2020. They were not required to plead to the charges when they were first read to them.
Lowenfield is already facing three charges of misconduct in public office and three counts of forgery, while Myers is defending herself against two counts of misconduct in public office.
Mingo has been individually and jointly charged with forgery and conspiracy to defraud. He was charged along with PNCR Chairman Lawrence with one count of conspiring to commit fraud. He is also charged with four counts of misconduct in public office and also jointly charged with APNU+AFC agent Joseph with one count of forgery. Additionally, February, GECOM Information Technology (IT) Officer Livan, BobbCummings, and Miller have also been charged.
These matters are before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan who presides in Court One. The Chief Magistrate had ruled that these persons will be tried summarily. In October, Ramdhani, who is also the state prosecutor for these matters, handed over several boxes containing certified copies of Statements of Poll (SOPs) and Statements of Recount (SORs) from the March 2nd 2020 general and regional elections to the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court. The case was adjourned until December 17 at 10 am.