The attorney representing a D’urban Street taxi driver who is on charges of discharging a loaded firearm, illegally entering Guyana and committing a common assault told the court that this may be a case of mistaken identity.
Talvia Daniels appeared before Magistrate Judy Latchman in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court yesterday to answer the charges.
Daniels was granted bail in the sum of $20,000 on the common assault charge, $80,000 on the illegal entry charge and $100,000 on the charge of discharging a firearm.
The court was told that during December 2011 at Springlands, Corentyne the defendant allegedly entered Guyana from a place other than a port of entry and failed to present himself to the relevant authorities within 24 hours. Daniels was also accused of discharging a loaded firearm and assaulting Weldon Anthony in a public place.
Daniels’ attorney, Adrian Thompson, stated that his client has a fixed place of abode at Lot 68 D’urban Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown and is a taxi driver. He acknowledged that his client was to some extent at fault in allowing the police to proceed under misinformation but his client’s arrest was uncalled for since the charges are to some extent “funny”.
Thompson noted that his client is a Guyanese and therefore questioned how could he have entered Guyana illegally.
The charge of discharging a loaded firearm is also questionable, the attorney argued, since upon police investigations a search of his client’s home provided no evidence of him having a firearm and moreover his client is not a licensed firearm holder.
Thompson contended that the police must have mistaken his client for his brother, causing the mix up. He then asked the court to take into consideration the fact that his client has no prior nor pending matters before the court, that he is not a flight risk, and the virtual complainant was absent.
Daniels has to return to court on May 9.
