Two of the three men accused in a 2004 murder at Hampshire Village, Corentyne were acquitted earlier this week after Magistrate Fabio Azore ruled that a prima facie case had not been made out against them.
The case was dismissed against Gansham Jaggassar, 31, of Lot 60 Williamsburg Village, Corentyne, and Devendra Harrichand, who along with Abousalim Azimullah were jointly charged for the slaying of Gary Simon on December 17, 2004.
At the recent hearings in a preliminary inquiry into the murder charge at the Albion Court, defence counsel Kim Kyte-John had reminded the court that the duty of the prosecution was two-fold and that there must be proof that a crime was committed and that the accused persons were the persons who committed the act.
She had argued that there was no direct or circumstantial evidence that her client Harrichand was the person who had committed the crime. Attorney Vic Puran represented Jaggassar
In her no-case submission, Kyte-John stated that there has been no evidence to prove an essential element in the alleged offence.
Additionally, she submitted that the evidence adduced by the prosecution had been so discredited as a result of cross-examination and was so manifestly unreliable that no reasonable tribunal could safely convict.
Kyte–John reminded the court that her client was not the principal offender but the question was whether he aided, abetted, counselled or procured the commissioning of the offence. The attorney argued that there was no evidence that the accused took part in the chopping or aided, abetted or incited the chopping.
It was alleged that the men killed Simon at Nigg Settlement, Corentyne. Simon along with his reputed Annette Samaroo, along with a friend called ‘Rama,’ were sitting at the Red Rose Bar, having a few drinks when the accused were alleged to have run up to Simon and inflicted injuries to his body. The injured man was rushed to the Port Mourant Hospital and subsequently transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital, where he succumbed the following day. A post-mortem examination conducted by Dr Vivikanand Brijmohan recorded that death occurred as a result of shock and haemorrhage and incised wounds to the legs.
After being committed to stand trial in the High Court, they were discharged by Justice Franklyn Holder last year, after he found the charge against them to be bad in law. The police, acting on instructions from the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions, later instituted a murder charge against the men in what their lawyers said was an abuse of process. Meanwhile, the case also saw attorney Mursulene Bacchus jointly charged with a fish vendor, Chandra Lakha Ramdass, with conspiracy to obstruct the course of justice. The charge stemmed from an allegation that the defendants induced Samaroo, the spouse of the murder victim, to give contradictory evidence at the Preliminary Inquiry. That case is still pending in court.
