Finding a life sentence against Deosarran Bisnauth to have been severe, the Guyana Court of Appeal yesterday instead imposed a 12-year sentence on the man who was convicted of manslaughter back in 2017.
In a ruling delivered by acting Chancellor Yonette Cummings-Edwards, the appellate court said it found that no consideration had been given by the trial judge to the fact that Bisnauth was only 16-years-old when he committed the crime.
She said that as a juvenile, this fact ought to have been considered by the trial judge as a mitigating factor.
The Chancellor said that as required by case law and conventions on the Rights of the Child, sentencing ought to factor-in specific considerations where an offender is a juvenile.
The judge said that the indeterminate sentence of life imposed upon the then 19-year-old also seems from the record not to have considered that the teen was a first-time offender who had said that he was afraid of the deceased who was older and of greater build than him.
The court said that an indeterminate sentence such as the one visited upon Bisnauth is reserved for the “worst of the worst” crimes, while pointing out that this was not Bisnauth’s case, even as the judge said that there was no evidence of any plan or premeditation, but rather an impulsive retaliation.
Allowing the appeal on the ground of sentence, the Court of Appeal said that a more appropriate sentence was 12 years with deductions to be made for time Bisnauth would have spent on remand awaiting trial.
The court said that whatever time may remain after those deductions would have been made would be subject to review by the Chief Justice.
While Bisnauth succeeded on the ground of sentence, his complaints of misdirection on the part of the trial judge to the jury which according to him led to an unfair trial, were found to be without merit.
The court said that it in fact found that sufficient directions had been given to the jury which led to it arriving at the verdict it did.
The teen was represented before the appellate court by Senior Counsel Stanley Moore; while the state was represented by Prosecutor Dionne McCammon.
The appeal was heard by the Chancellor and Justices of Appeal Rishi Persaud and Dawn Gregory.
Bisnauth called “Strokes Mouth” had been handed a life sentence by Justice Navindra Singh after being convicted of unlawfully killing Robert Mangal, called “Trevor,” on July 6, 2013, at Enmore, East Coast Demerara.
The young man had been indicted for murder but convicted on the lesser offence of manslaughter. He was 19 years old at the time of conviction.
During the trial, the prosecution’s main witness Karan Chattergoon had said that he saw when Bisnauth hit Mangal three times with a piece of wood almost four feet long, causing him to fall face down on the ground.
Chattergoon, who described Mangal as his “drinking buddy,” had said that on the day in question, they went to their usual spot to drink and an argument ensued between Bisnauth and Mangal.
The witness said he was unaware of what the two were arguing about as he, by that time, was already in the rum shop purchasing liquor and cigarettes.
According to Chattergoon, some moments later, after making his purchase, he went out of the shop and he saw the accused with a “2 x 4” piece of wood, with which he dealt Mangal three lashes in his back.
Leading his defence in unsworn testimony, Bisnauth, who professed his innocence, had told the court that Mangal had attacked him with a bottle, and he in turn picked up a piece of wood and dealt the man blows to the back. He contended that he was defending himself.
The prosecution had, however, argued that it was not a case of self-defence, since it was Bisnauth who was the aggressor.
The prosecutor had also advanced that the convict could not have perceived any threat of violence or imminent danger from Mangal, whose back was turned when he was attacked.
Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh had given the cause of death as cerebral haemorrhage due to blunt trauma to the head.
