-only six completed in June session
The Director of Public Pro-secutions (DPP) office says 240 matters have been listed for the Demerara October 2012 Criminal Assizes which started on Tuesday, while six matters were completed in the June Assizes that closed on September 28.
In a press release yesterday the DPP’s Chambers said an initial 234 cases were listed to be heard by Justice Roxane George and Justice Franklin Holder during the June Assizes which started on June 5; however only six matters were heard. Three of the six matters; two for the offence of murder and one for rape, were heard before Justice George and the other three; two for murder and one for carnal knowledge were heard before Justice Holder, the DPP said.
In one of the murder trials Justice George upheld a “no case submission” by defence counsel Richardson and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty. The State has appealed the judge’s decision and the accused was placed on self recognizance pending the appeal.
In the second murder trial, the accused pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to eight years imprisonment. In the rape matter, the jury returned an 11 to 1 majority verdict of not guilty in favour of the accused.
In Justice Holder’s court, he upheld no case submissions in the two murder trials and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty. In the carnal knowledge matter, the judge ordered a retrial after a hung jury was returned.
According to the release three matters were nolle prosequi by the DPP; one for the offence of rape in which the victim did not wish to proceed. In the two other matters; one for manslaughter and the other for rape, both of the accused died. The three matters that were nolle prosequi amounted to a total of nine cases disposed of during the June Assizes from the 234 listed to be heard.
In the Berbice June 2012 Criminal Assizes 43 cases were listed to be heard by Justice James Bovell-Drakes. Six matters were completed: three for murder, one for manslaughter, one for carnal knowledge and one for abduction. In the first murder trial the jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty for both accused; in the second, the judge ordered a retrial as a result of a hung jury, and in the third case the accused pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to 21 years imprisonment.
In the carnal knowledge case the jury returned with an 11 to 1 not guilty verdict in favour of the accused while a unanimous verdict of not guilty was returned in the manslaughter case. In the abduction case the accused was found guilty and had a two-year suspended sentence imposed on him.
Justice Bovell-Drakes also did gaol delivery for the Berbice Assizes on Tuesday September 25. A total of 49 cases are listed to be heard during the October Assizes which will open on Tuesday October 16 with Madam Justice George.
Only one matter was heard from the 18 cases listed for the Essequibo May 2012 Assizes. The murder case was heard by Justice Winston Patterson and the accused pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter and had a 20-year sentence imposed on him. Justice Patterson subsequently retired from the Bench and no judge has since been assigned to the Essequibo Criminal Assizes which is set to open on Tuesday, October 23. Twenty-two matters have been listed to be heard.
