Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton yesterday recused herself from the arms and ammunition matter involving Terrence Sugrim citing the fact that she had dealt with another matter involving the defendant which was taken to the High Court and been discharged and which matter might be prejudicial to him.
Sugrim was present at the Wales Magistrate’s Court when the magistrate made that announcement that she was sending back the matter to the Chief Magistrate for re-assignment. Sugrim, 43, of Lot 91 Parfait Harmonie, West Bank Demerara who also goes by the name Roy Alvarez as well as several other aliases is charged with two counts of unlawful possession of arms and ammunition. It is alleged that on June 28 at Lot 91 Parfait Harmonie, he had in his possession two firearms, that is to say, one .32 Taurus Pistol (serial number FUH 83964) and a .32 Walter Pistol number 452067 without being the holder of a firearm licence.
It is also alleged that on the same date and at the same place, he had in his possession 75 rounds of .32 ammunition and 85 12-gauge cartridges without being the holder of a firearm licence. He had pleaded not guilty to both charges when he appeared before Principal Magistrate Melissa Robertson-Ogle previously and had been granted bail in the sum of $1M.
The case that the magistrate had been referring to was Sugrim’s extradition trial. Sugrim is wanted by US authorities to face trial for allegedly conspiring to traffic in narcotics. He had been imprisoned after being committed by Magistrate Octive-Hamilton to await extradition to the United States to face trial for allegedly conspiring to traffic in narcotics following an extradition hearing in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court. However, on April 17, Justice Jainarayan Singh Jr released Sugrim on $1M bail in the High Court following a habeas corpus application by his legal team. From the application filed by Sugrim’s legal team, Justice Singh found that many factual errors were made by the magistrate during the hearing and they were serious enough transgressions to render her rulings in relation to the committal unlawful and unfair.
