A police witness in the murder trial of Sherwin Barnwell yesterday testified that he did not cordon off the scene of the crime because he did not want to obstruct traffic.
Policeman Odel Percival was at the time being cross-examined by attorney George Thomas, who was appointed by the state on the request of Justice Franklyn Holder to assist Barnwell attorney Norma Lewis with the trial.
Barnwell is on trial for the murder of Nohar Bahadur, who was killed at Friendship, East Bank Demerara in 2006.
Percival, who had testified earlier in trial, was asked why he did not cordon off the scene in order to protect the integrity of the investigation. He then explained under re-examination that he did not want to cause obstruction to the traffic on the road way.
Under cross-examination, Percival also disclosed that he did not take any photos where the body was found since he was not the investigator in the matter. He also said that he marked the parapet with a piece of stick but did not mark the area where the body was found lying.
After the cross-examination of the prosecution’s witness, the prosecution proceeded to make an application for a penal report of the accused to be tendered as evidence in the trial. The trial will continue today.
