A 24-year-old miner yesterday walked out of the High Court in Georgetown a free man after being found not guilty of murdering a fellow miner.
Ewarth Cobis was acquitted after a 12-member jury unanimously found him not guilty of both the capital offence and the lesser count of manslaughter for the death of Richard Joseph.
The visibly-relieved young man expressed gratitude after Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall told him that he was free to go.
The allegation against Cobis was that on December 11, 2012, at Port Kaituma, North West District, he murdered Joseph.
The former accused had always maintained his innocence, stating that it was Joseph who first attacked him and he responded in a bid to defend himself.
The court had heard during the trial that the men, who were known to each other, had been drinking on the day in question and an altercation ensued between them.
According to the facts of the case, Cobis, who had misplaced his memory card and was enquiring about it, was hit by the deceased three times with a cutlass. To defend himself, Cobis said that he grabbed a knife, which accidentally connected with Joseph’s neck.
Cobis was represented by attorney Mark Conway.
The state’s case, meanwhile, was presented by prosecutors Narissa Leander, Seeta Bishundial and Abigail Gibbs.
