Sentenced in 2015 to 20 years behind bars for spearing a man to his chest with a pitchfork, Deon Braithwaite has filed an appeal to the Guyana Court of Appeal, arguing among other things, that his sentence is severe and the case was prejudiced.
Though initially indicted with attempting to murder Safraz Gani on October 29, 2012, a jury found Braithwaite guilty on the offence of felonious wounding, for which he was sentenced to 20 years by Justice Jo-Ann Barlow.
Through his attorney Glenn Hanoman, however, Braithwaite is arguing before acting Chancellor Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Justices of Appeal Rishi Persaud and Dawn Gregory, that the sentence is “unduly severe” in all circumstances.
Additionally, he argues that it is against “current sentencing practices.”
At sentencing, Justice Barlow had informed the convict that 10 months would be deducted for the time he had spent in prison on remand for the attempted murder charge, before he was eventually granted bail.
Given a chance to speak before being sentenced, the convict had told the court that he had taken matters into his own hands.
He had said he felt that a son was obligated to protect his mother and he was sorry for his actions. In light of Braithwaite’s remarks, the judge underscored the time the court would have invested in having to conduct a trial.
Listing his grounds of appeal, the appellant (Braithwaite), says that the judgment should be set aside on grounds that the indictment presented to the court and read to him in relation to felonious wounding “disclosed no offence known to the laws of Guyana and is a nullity from which no conviction can follow.”
The appellant is of the view that Justice Barlow failed to adequately direct the jury on the elements of the offence to be proved by the prosecution, while adding that he was wrongfully deprived of an opportunity to submit that he had no case to answer.
On this point, Braithwaite is contending that the judge failed to fairly and adequately put his defence to the jury, thus effectively withdrawing his defence of “self defence” from the jury, by suggesting that he had used excessive force.
He argues too, that the judge wrongfully admitted medical evidence at the trial which prejudiced his case, while advancing that she failed to consider the issue of admissibility of Gani’s medical certificate, in light of testimony which suggested that it was prepared in excess of 48 hours after the medical examination.
The appellant also takes issue with what he says is the judge wrongfully permitting prosecution witness Dr Fareez Khan refreshing his memory from writings not established to have been made contemporaneously with his examination or so soon afterwards that would render it fresh in his memory.
According to Braithwaite, Justice Barlow committed a further error by failing to invite the jury to consider finding him guilty for the kindred lesser offence of unlawful wounding, as opposed to felonious wounding.
He further complains that the judge failed to enquire from the jury whether its verdict was unanimous, thereby permitting a guilty verdict, which may have been a majority verdict prior to the expiration of two hours of deliberations.
Additionally, he says that the judge wrongly admitted his oral statement, much to the prejudice of his case.
Braithwaite was convicted and sentenced on September 11th of 2015.
Braithwaite’s appeal case will be called again on January 11th, 2019 for continued hearing.When Braithwaite was initially charged, the prosecutor had informed that the parties had a misunderstanding, during which Braithwaite stabbed Gani to his chest with a pitchfork and dealt him several lashes about his body with the handle of the tool.
The court was also told that Gani sustained several broken bones and collapsed in an unconscious state before being rushed to the hospital. The man’s left hand had been paralyzed due to the attack.
