Dennis Marks, who was on trial for the 2016 murder of Police Sergeant Leonard La Rose, will spend the remainder of his life behind bars after a jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty after hours of deliberation yesterday.
The trial of Marks for the 2016 murder of La Rose commenced during the latter part of February before Justice Sandil Kissoon and the 12-member jury at the High Court in Georgetown.
Marks was represented by attorney Rachael Bakker. The state, meanwhile, was represented by prosecutors Tuanna Hardy, Tiffini Lyken and Nafeeza Baig.
After hours of deliberation, the jury found Marks not guilty of the capital offence of murder but found him guilty of a lesser count of manslaughter.
Bakker, in her plea for mitigation, told the court that her client was sorry for what happened and he was only trying to protect himself. She added that Marks’ youngest child is nine years old before asking that the court be lenient when sentencing him.
However, Hardy stated that in addition to killing La Rose, Marks also injured two other members of the Guyana Police Force while they were executing their duty. She added that police officers must be treated with honour and respect and asked that Justice Kissoon consider the prevalence of the offence whereby officers are attacked daily by persons.
Justice Kissoon subsequently stated that the court has no tolerance for cases of that nature and therefore would not condone those acts before adding that the sentence of the court must reflect the view of civil society. As a result, he sentenced Marks to life imprisonment and further told him that under no circumstances would he be considered eligible for parole.
The charge stated that on March 1, 2016, at Hole, Matthews Ridge, he murdered La Rose.
La Rose was stabbed while two other police officers were injured after they went to arrest Marks, who was wanted pending investigations into a report of alleged rape.
Police had said when La Rose and the two constables attempted to arrest Marks, who had been armed with a knife, he attacked them. La Rose was stabbed in his neck. The two other ranks were also stabbed.
The ranks were all taken to the Matthews Ridge Hospital, where La Rose succumbed to his injuries and the two police constables were treated and sent away.
