Devon McFarlane, who was on trial for raping a woman at Bare Root, East Coast Demerara, was yesterday freed after a jury returned a majority not guilty verdict in the court of Justice Roxane George.
Hours after the case was handed over to the jury for deliberation, the court was told that 11 of the 12 jury members believed McFarlane, called ‘Kang,’ to be innocent of the crime.
Upon releasing McFarlane, Justice George told him that he was fortunate and he should keep out of trouble’s way and make himself useful.
McFarlane was represented by attorney Ronald Burch-Smith, while Renita Singh and Judith Mursalin represented the prosecution.
The prosecution’s case was that McFarlane raped a woman in 2009, while she was coming home from work around 12 am at Bare Root, East Coast Demerara (ECD). He had allegedly held the woman at gun point and took her to an unfinished house in the area where he committed the act.
McFarlane, however, said that he was at home on the night of the incident, which was attested to by his wife. The defence argued that there was a case of mistaken identification as opposed to the prosecution’s case that there was recognition.
From the evidence given in the matter, both the victim and her husband said that they knew McFarlane and that he was invited to their wedding anniversary celebration prior to the incident, which the prosecution said established recognition.
Justice George presented both the prosecution and the defence’s case to the jury, in addition to the principles of law that surrounds the case. In summing up the matter, Justice George advised members of the jury that they must decide if the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, while McFarlane did not have to prove anything. Justice George also said that it was for the prosecution to prove that McFarlane was not at home as he and his wife stated.
She continued that the evidence of the prosecution and the accused must be considered. She also mentioned that the case must be looked at dispassionately, regardless of the high incidence of violence and rape in the society.
The Judge also stated in her summing up that all aspects of the case must be proven before McFarlane could be convicted, since he was innocent until proven guilty. She also highlighted that they were inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case, but said it was up to the jury to decide if they were major or not.
Following the summing up, the matter was handed to the jury for deliberation.
