The Guyana Court of Appeal on Tuesday set aside the 58-month jail sentence handed down to jeweller Bishnarine ‘Sanjay’ Persaud in 2015 for causing death by dangerous driving, while saying that the decision to convict was “troubling.”
Stabroek News understands that outgoing acting Chancellor Carl Singh, Justice BS Roy and Justice Brassington Reynolds unanimously agreed that the appeal should be allowed and the conviction and sentencing should be set aside.
The case came up for first hearing sometime late last year and since then the court heard arguments and received written submissions from both sides.
Senior counsel Edward Luckhoo and attorney Glenn Hanoman represented Persaud, while the State was represented by Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Sonia Joseph.
In October, 2015, Magistrate Judy Latchman, after a lengthy trial, found Persaud to be responsible for the death of cyclist Leon Hunte, while noting that there was enough evidence to show that he fell short of the standard and care of a competent driver.
Hunte was killed on September 12, 2014, after he was struck down by Persaud at Lamaha Street, Newtown, Kitty.
Hunte, 53, of Stone Avenue, Blygezight was heading home on his bicycle along Lamaha Street, Newtown, when he was hit by the car being driven by Persaud at around 1.30 am. Hunte, who had been mute from birth, was a handyman at City Hall for more than two decades.
Stabroek News was told that the judges said that they were troubled at the magistrate’s approach to the case and her selective approach to the evidence.
Stabroek News was told that Justice Singh, who read the written decision, said that the magistrate applied the wrong legal test for the dangerous driving definition.
Persaud
Following the sentencing, Persaud had attempted to secure bail from Magistrate Latchman pending an appeal but this was denied. A similar effort in the High Court also failed but Hanoman on his behalf was successful at the Court of the Appeal. It was Appeal Judge Justice Roy who granted him $500,000 bail pending an appeal hearing after Hanoman made an application to the court.
Persaud spent less than a week in jail before he was released.
In an invited comment, Hanoman told Stabroek News yesterday that he was not surprised that the case ended in his client’s favour. Hanoman, in his appeal, had claimed that the magistrate refused to grant him sufficient time to lead his defence. As a result of the motion, Hanoman was handed a month-long adjournment.
