A petition was filed yesterday morning urging Chancellor Yonette Cummings-Edwards to remove Magistrate Alex Moore from presiding over the proceedings against Marcus Bisram, who is accused of masterminding the murder of a Corentyne carpenter Faiyaz Narinedatt.
Following years of legal challenges, Bisram was extradited to Guyana late last month and was remanded to prison after he was formally charged with commanding others to murder Narinedatt in 2016. The charge states that between October 31st, 2016 and November 1st, 2016, at Number 70 Village, Corentyne, he counselled, procured and commanded Harri Paul Parsram, Radesh Motie, Niran Yacoob, Diodath Datt and Orlando Dickie to murder Narinedatt.
Stabroek News has seen the petition, which argues that Magistrate Moore’s demeanour during a hearing at the Whim Magistrate’s Court “both in action and language” was openly prejudicial in favour of Bisram and his attorney, Sanjeev Datadin.
Section 12 of the Summary Jurisdiction (Magistrates) Act provides that the Chancellor may “direct that a particular magistrate shall not adjudicate on a particular cause or matter coming before him because of the magistrate’s personal interest in that cause or matter or for any other sufficient reason and shall in any such case assign another magistrate to adjudicate on that cause or matter.”
The petition states Magistrate Moore’s “conduct was clearly inimical to the justice sought by the aggrieved family of the murdered victim.”
Additionally, it was also highlighted that during the court proceedings “the magistrate never allowed the prosecutor [Stacy Goodings] to present her case with coherence, clarity and logical sequence.” Instead, it stated, “He [the magistrate] and Mr. Datadin in obscenely loud voices, continuously interrupted the prosecutor in an effort to disorient her argument. It was perceptibly evident that the magistrate demonstrated no interest in having the matter methodically presented by the prosecutor. Falling into fits of unjustifiable rage, he often banged his fist on the table and became vociferously menacing towards the prosecutor. In monopolising the court hearing, he overtly attempted to drive fear into her and silence into docile submission. The method he utilised was an obvious deviation from established and time honoured practice in judicial considerations.”
Furthermore, the petition also stressed that while the magistrate has a duty to execute responsibilities devolved upon his office, he must do so dispassionately and with complete fidelity to the highest standard of jurisprudence. “He must be neutral or appear to be neutral in carrying out the mandate of his status,” it added,
As a result, the petition requests that the Chancellor have Magistrate Moore recuse himself in the best interest of the justice.
At Bisram’s second court appearance last week, Magistrate Moore, who was holding for presiding magistrate Renita Singh at the Whim Magistrate’s Court, since she is on leave, announced that he would be testing the evidence against Bisram by way of paper committal proceedings, which he insisted could be completed before the end of the year.
The magistrate made the pronouncement after listening to representations from both the state prosecutor and Bisram’s attorney.
Magistrate Moore had also noted that since bail was out of his hands, he would ensure that the matter is dealt with expeditiously, as he pointed out that it seems to have become a norm for proceedings to be prolonged. During those proceedings Magistrate Moore, who insisted that the matter can be completed before the end of the year, also explained that he was not a “holding magistrate” who grants adjournments until the magistrate on leave returns. He said he actually attempts to get cases going so that the assigned magistrate can return to some progress.
After an exchange with Goodings, the magistrate alluded to the possibility that he would “happily discharge” the matter if it is being delayed.
Support
Meanwhile, the Narinedatt’s family yesterday also voiced its full support for the office of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Prosecutor Goodings in the handling of the case.
In a statement released to the media, the family said in light of the recent media coverage regarding the PI, it wanted it to be known that Prosecutor Goodings has been working “diligently” and has demonstrated professionalism in the courtroom “conducting herself with dignity, civility, courtesy and a sense of fair play to bring justice for Faiyaz and our family.”
The family’s statement came in wake of suggestions in the media that the prosecution has been delaying and Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan on Wednesday said it would be an “embarrassing” situation if the state was not prepared to prosecute Bisram in light of his extradition from the United States.
“…It will be entirely embarrassing for the state to have demanded his coming over and now that he is extradited these officers are not up to the task of ensuring that they get the documents in time,” Ramjattan said.
However, the family’s statement noted that it is important for members of the Ministry of Public Security to be knowledgeable about these types of court matters and to work closely with DPP before releasing “embarrassing statements” to the press. “This sends the wrong messages to families like ours and to the public implying that the Prosecutor Ms. Goodings and DPP are not doing their job. It is this type of distrustful behaviour that instills corruption in the judicial system that disallows families to receive justice when sitting in a courtroom knowing we cannot bring our Faiyaz back. We are confident that the office of DPP will show that justice can prevail in this matter and our Faiyaz’s case will not become another statistic of a judicial failure,” the family said, while also expressing its gratitude for those who have continuously supported and fought alongside it.
The scheduled start of the preliminary inquiry was deferred on Monday after Magistrate Moore reported sick.
After the magistrate reported sick, the matter was called later at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court, where Magistrate Peter Hugh adjourned the proceedings until next Monday. At the time, the state’s prosecutor, Goodings, was not present in court.
Bisram’s attorney, Sanjeev Datadin, who was present in court, then claimed that there seemed to be delaying tactics by the state as he questioned why the state prosecutor did not show up. However, a police prosecutor was there in her stead.
At Bisram’s first court appearance at the Whim Magistrate’s Court, Datadin had argued that the constitution stipulates a fair hearing within a reasonable time, while pointing out that Bisram is a guest of the state while incarcerated.
Bisram, is now expected to return to the Springlands Magistrate’s Court on December 16th.
