Murder accused Rondell Bacchus will have to face a second retrial after another jury yesterday failed to reach a unanimous verdict on his guilt or innocence in the 2008 murder of scrap iron dealer Akbar Alli.
After spending close to three hours in deliberations, the jury returned and informed Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry that they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
As a result, Bacchus was ordered to be returned to the Georgetown Prisons, where he will remain until the next available opportunity for him to stand a second retrial.
Bacchus seemed unmoved by the news and was quietly escorted back to the holding cell at the High Court.
In 2013, Bacchus and former co-accused Andrew Morris were brought before the court to answer to the charge that on July 24, 2008, at Brickdam, they robbed Bibi Rameena Hydar Alli of $2.1 million and fatally shot her husband, Akbar Alli, in the process.
However, the charges against Morris were subsequently withdrawn by the Director of Public Prosecutions due to the lack of evidence, while Bacchus’s first High Court trial ended in a hung jury.
Alli and his wife had gone to a city bank. They later went to Brickdam with the intention of transacting business with an auto dealer when they were robbed at gunpoint by two men on a motorcycle.
The case was presented by State Prosecutor Narissa Leander in association with Tuanna Hardy while Bacchus was represented by attorney Nigel Hughes.
