Sentenced to 57 years behind bars after being found guilty of murdering his fellow fish cleaner, Quaison Jones, called ‘Blondie’, is appealing the sentence, saying that it is severe.
Additionally, he is contending that trial Justice Navindra Singh, by whom the sentence was imposed, did not properly put his case of self defence to the jury, in accordance with law.
In the circumstances, he is arguing that this amounted to a misdirection of the jury on the judge’s part.
His appeal is being heard at the Guyana Court of Appeal before acting Chancellor Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Justices of Appeal Rishi Persaud and Dawn Gregory.
Jones is being represented by attorneys Ronald Burch-Smith and Keoma Griffith, while the state is being represented by Prosecutor Diana Kaulesar-O’Brien.
In June of 2014, Jones was found guilty of the murder of Marlon Greene but had maintained that it was not he who had committed the crime.
Leading his defence in unsworn statement during the High Court trial, Jones had said that he did not kill Greene and that he never had any problems with him.
The court had, however, heard from a witness that the two men had an argument at the Meadowbank wharf, during which Greene was stabbed multiple times. He subsequently died from the injuries inflicted.
Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh had testified that Greene’s jugular vein and windpipe were severed. He had also told the court that Greene died as a result of haemorrhage and shock due to multiple stab wounds.
