The unlawful possession of arms and ammunition case against Terrence Sugrim was discharged at the Wales Magistrate’s Court last week.
It was the third time that he had been charged for the same offence, which arose out of a 2007 police raid. The first time the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had withdrawn the charges and the second time the case had been discharged because witnesses did not show up. Shortly after, he once again appeared in court charged with the same offences and last week Monday Magistrate Ann McClennan discharged the case following submissions by Sugrim’s attorney, Glen Hanoman.
Sugrim, 43, of Parfait Harmonie, West Bank Demerara had pleaded not guilty to the charges of unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition. It was alleged that on June 28, 2007, at his home, he was found with a .32 Taurus pistol and a .32 Walther pistol, without being the holder of a firearm licence. Sugrim, was also accused of having on the same day seventy-five .32 rounds of ammunition and 85 twelve-gauge cartridges without being the holder of a firearm licence.
Hanoman, in his submissions argued that the DPP had abused the process of the court. Recalling the background of the case, in written submissions, he questioned whether the DPP has the power to reinstitute in the magistrate’s court, a prosecution that she had already formally discontinued, reinstituted and which was discharged after the continuous absence of prosecution witnesses. Hanoman cited several cases to support his arguments. “Having reinstituted the charges and having been given the opportunity for ten months to produce witnesses and then being unable to do so can they now reinstitute again without it amounting to an abuse of the process?”, he questioned.
In June 2007, when he faced the charges for the first time, Sugrim was jointly charged with his reputed wife, Michelle Davis. He was wanted by United States authorities to face trial for allegedly conspiring to traffic in narcotics and had been arrested in a police operation and an extradition hearing was held. During this time, the DPP withdrew the charges against him and Davis faced them alone. She also faces a charge of harbouring a wanted man, Sugrim.
Following the extradition hearing at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court, Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton had committed Sugrim into custody to await extradition to the US to face trial for allegedly conspiring to traffic in narcotics. But on April 17 last year, Justice Jainarayan Singh Jr. released him on $1M bail in the High Court following a habeas corpus application by his legal team. Stemming 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. Bail was granted in the sum of $1M.
Shortly after his release, police had rearrested Sugrim and slapped him with the charges of illegal possession of guns and ammunition and he was then taken to then Principal Magistrate Melissa Robertson, where he was granted bail.
The trial then proceeded at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s Court. On February 6 Magistrate Fazil Azeez stating that witnesses had not turned up on numerous occasions despite being informed, discharged the case against Sugrim. This newspaper subsequently reported that the Police Office of Professional Responsibility had launched an investigation and charges had been recommended against those found to be a fault. The file had been sent to the Chambers of the DPP but yesterday a source told Stabroek News that nothing had happened. The main prosecution witness has also migrated to Canada.
On February 17, eleven days after the case was discharged at Vreed-en-Hoop, Sugrim was charged again with the same offences and appeared at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court. He was placed on $300,000 bail by Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson. The case was transferred to the Wales Magistrate’s Court where Magistrate McClennan presided.
