After initially professing his innocence in the chopping of a man whom he accused of having an affair with his reputed wife, security guard Eon Archibald now faces sentencing for the offence after admitting guilt in the middle of his trial.
Archibald had pleaded not guilty when he was indicted earlier this week for the charge of attempting to murder Dwayne Wallace on the night of June 4th, 2015 at the Pavement View Restaurant and Bar. He also denied the alternative count of wounding the man with the intention of causing him grievous bodily harm or to maim, disfigure or disable him.
In light of his pleas, a jury was empanelled to hear the trial, which commenced yesterday morning before Justice Sandil Kissoon at the High Court in Georgetown.
The first to take the witness stand was the complainant, who recounted being at work when Archibald, whom he had previously known, ran into the back area of the bar and began chopping him.
The man displayed for the court two sizeable scars—one on his right hand and another on his right side where he said Archibald had chopped him with a cutlass.
He said he knew Archibald, who was an occasional visitor to the bar and who would sometime collect his (Archibald’s) wife from the location, where she also worked as a tender.
The witness vehemently denied ever being in a relationship with the woman when he was asked by the prosecutor.
Wallace said that he tried desperately to evade his attacker, who pursued him onto the road, where he eventually collapsed. He was subsequently rushed to the hospital by patrons and other public-spirited citizens, who had converged after being alerted to what had happened.
During Archibald’s cross-examination of the complainant, throughout which the judge had to assist the unrepresented accused, the man repeatedly denied ever chopping Wallace.
In fact, he was adamant that he was not even at the scene at the time of the incident. To this end, he had sought to enquire from the virtual complainant about surveillance cameras, with which the business equipped at the time.
The second witness to take the stand was the bar’s disc jockey (DJ), Mark Blackette, who also said that he had been at work at the time of the attack and had witnessed Archibald, with whom he was also familiar, chopping and chasing Wallace with a cutlass.
When the matter was called yesterday afternoon for testimonies to continue, however, Archibald indicated to the court that he wanted to plead guilty.
After Archibald’s change of heart and his acceptance of the responsibility for wounding Wallace, Justice Kissoon informed him that his sentencing would be deferred until October 11th to facilitate the presentation of a probation report.
Archibald, who up to that point had been out on bail, was subsequently remanded to prison.
The state’s case was being presented by Prosecutor Narissa Leander, in association with Abigail Gibbs.
