The order which was made by a district court in New York to extradite Guyanese murder accused Marcus Brian Bisram now stands after he lost his appeal yesterday.
The United States Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit ruled that “Upon due consideration, it is hereby ordered, adjudged and decreed that the judgement of the district court is affirmed”.
Bisram, a dual citizen of the United States of America and Guyana currently faces a charge of murder in Guyana for an incident which occurred on the night of October 31, 2016.
Bisram is accused of ordering the fatal beating of Faiyaz Narinedatt, a young father of two.
On February 14, 2017, following an investigation into Narinedatt’s death, Guyana submitted a formal request to the United States Department of State for Bisram’s extradition to face a charge of murder, after the accused had fled overseas.
However, on October 12, 2017, a magistrate judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued a Certificate of Extraditability, certifying to the Secretary of State that there was probable cause to believe that Bisram committed the charged murder and authorizing the Secretary’s extradition of Bisram to Guyana.
However, on November 17, 2017, Bisram filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, challenging the Certificate of Extraditability.
On October 31, 2018, following several extensions, the district court denied Bisram’s petition, concurring in the magistrate judge’s determination that there was “reasonable ground” to believe that Bisram committed the murder as charged.
Then Bisram through his attorneys appealed the district court’s denial of his habeas petition on the grounds that the evidence presented to the extradition court failed to establish a reasonable ground to believe that Bisram committed the charged murder, especially in light of a witness’s subsequent alleged recantation of his original statement to police and that Bisram received constitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel during the extradition and habeas proceedings.
“We agree with all three reasons the district court gave for declining to issue a writ of habeas corpus to Bisram on the basis of (a witness’) alleged recantation. At a minimum, we cannot say that the district court erred in concluding that the evidence submitted by Guyana surpassed the minimal threshold of `any evidence warranting the finding that there was a reasonable ground to believe the accused guilty’”, the US court said.
It added that “We have considered all of Bisram’s remaining arguments and find them to be without merit. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court”.
The decision was issued by circuit judges Dennis Jacobs, Debra Ann Livingston and Joseph F Bianco.
