Mark Major yesterday walked out of the High Court a free man after a 12-member jury found him not guilty of murdering his cousin.
The charge against Major was that on January 12, 2012, at Helena Number 1 Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, he murdered Orin Forde.
This was Major’s second trial and he had pleaded not guilty on his indictment at its commencement on October 27. His first trial was conducted last year.
The jury returned a unanimous verdict after deliberating for about two hours.
“You are free to go,” Justice Roxane George, who presided over the trial at the High Court in Georgetown, subsequently told the visibly-relieved Major, who clutched a bible in his arms.
A smiling Major could be heard giving thanks to God as his relatives received him with open arms on the corridors outside the courtroom, where many shed tears of joy and prayed along with him.
Major and Forde were first cousins—the children of two sisters—and the rift between the two families was evident after the verdict as Forde’s relatives opined that there had been no justice for him. Some wept bitterly.
In leading his defence during the trial, Major had opted to give an unsworn statement from the prisoner’s dock and called one witness to the stand.
Major’s story was that his cousin had borrowed $6,000 from him in 2011 and promised to repay with interest, bringing his debt to $10,000.
According to Major, Forde had, however, only repaid him $5,000 and told him he had nothing else to get. This, Major said, sparked an altercation between them on Christmas Eve in 2011.
On January 12, 2012, Major said, Forde went to the abattoir where they both worked and an altercation ensured, during which they were parted by persons around.
However, he said, his cousin, armed with a wood and axe handle, charged towards him to hit him “and I stabbed him.”
Meanwhile, the state’s case, through its main witness, was that at the time Major stabbed Forde, the man was unarmed. Prosecutor Shawnette Austin had argued that the force used by Major against Forde was excessive.
Major was 17 years old at the time.
The case was prosecuted by Austin, in association with attorneys Orinthia Schmidt and Tamieka Clarke.
Meanwhile, defending Major were attorneys Clevaun Humphrey and Jermaine Jarvis.
