The man accused of murdering Mark Caesar, called ‘Lil Mark’, was yesterday remanded to prison after he made his appearance before acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.
The allegation is that on October 1 at Charlestown, Georgetown, Dexter Marshall murdered Mark Caesar called ‘Lil Mark’. Marshall is the brother of Steve Jupiter who was one of five persons killed in a Cummings Lodge shooting last month.
The accused was not required to enter a plea to the capital offence of murder when it was read to him by the acting chief magistrate.
Attorney-at-law Vic Puran who represented the defendant expressed outrage at what he termed the prejudicial manner in which the police conducted the identification parade (ID) in which his client was placed.
According to Puran, a picture of the accused was taken by the police who shared it with witnesses and told them to identify him as the perpetrator of the crime.
Puran argued that the police who should be advocates of justice should have taken photos of not only his client but all those selected to be a part of the ID parade. The lawyer added that his client is ready and willing to point out the rank who took his picture.
In his address to the court, however, Prosecutor Lionel Harvey said that at no time was the accused ever placed on an ID parade. According to him, after the incident persons saw the accused speeding away from the scene in a car.
In his rebuttal Puran said that he found the position advanced by the prosecution to be quite “alarming” since his client was required by the police to affix his signature to a form as proof that he had participated in an ID parade.
The lawyer concluded that what the police are actually seeking to do is to remove the ID parade that was already conducted and have it replaced by accounts of witnesses who claim that they saw “something.” Marshall was later remanded to prison until October 29.
Jupiter called `Steveman’ who was among five shot dead at Cummings Lodge last month, and Marshall are brothers, their sister Alana told Stabroek News yesterday.
Amidst tears, the woman said that he was asleep when police converged on his Front Road house last Thursday and arrested him.
According to Alana, Marshall was placed on $100, 000 station bail last Saturday but relatives could not come up with money and as such he remained in police custody. Yesterday they learnt that he was being charged with murder.
Almost 10 months after being shot in the back outside a city bar, Caesar was executed by gunmen on the night of October 1 as he stood at his usual Broad and Adelaide streets liming spot.
Caesar, 31, of St. Stephens Street, Charlestown, died while receiving treatment at the Georgetown Public Hospital. He suffered several gunshot wounds about the body in the drive-by attack.