The trial of Rawle Bernard, who is accused of murder-ing a man at a barbecue on the West Coast of Berbice in 2017, began yesterday before Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall at the High Court in Berbice with the testimony of five witnesses.
Bernard, also known as Charles Telford and ‘Red Man’ of Onderneeming, West Bank Demerara, is accused of murdering Sylvan Lennox Stoll, also known as ‘Bow Foot,’ of Plot ‘B’ Herstelling, East Bank Demerara, between August 13 and August 14, 2017. Stoll was fatally stabbed at the Number 42 Village Community Centre Ground.
State counsel Tuanna Hardy told the jury that the murder occurred after a group of persons travelled to Berbice to sport. Bernard, she said, was “misbehaving” when the fatal encounter occurred.
She also asked that the jurors keep in mind that the events took place in 2017 and that while some wit-nesses may have difficulty remembering what transpired extremely clearly that does not necessarily mean they are lying.
Among those testifying was Cord Griffith, a police constable who hosted the barbecue at the Community Centre Ground, where the fatal stabbing occurred.
He said a man, identified as “Horatio,” who filed the police report on the night in question, had assisted in sponsoring the event.
Around 7 pm on the night of the barbecue, Horatio arrived in a vehicle with about ten occupants, he said.
Around midnight, he added, the police arrived and said something to the DJ after which the DJ announced that the party was finished.
He then testified that a male approached the bar while holding the left side of his neck which appeared to be bleeding. As a result, Griffith related, Horatio took off his jersey and wrapped it around the man and then took him to a minibus that transported him to the Mahaicony Public Hospital.
They arrived about ten minutes later at the Mahaicony Public Hospital.
Griffith said that Horatio then proceeded to the Weldaad Police Station, where he made a police report about the matter.
He said while making the report the accused was passing the station.
The state’s first witness, Ricardo Seales, a police constable, who was stationed at the Weldaad Police Station at the time of the stabbing, testified to placing the accused under arrest after a report was filed at the station by Horatio.
He noted that when he put the allegation to the accused, who was walking en route to Georgetown when he was arrested, he said that he did not know anything about it.
The state’s second witness, Vanessa Bobb, a police constable who was stationed at Weldaad in August, 2017, testified to taking the report of the alleged murder.
Defence attorney Chandra Sohan, during cross-examination, asked the witness whether she had questioned the person filing the report whether he had seen the accused stabbing the deceased.
The attorney asked whether the policewoman didn’t think that should have been a pertinent question after she replied she did not. However, she said she was not the investigating rank and her duties were related to taking the report.
Officer Nelsy White, a Corporal, who was station-ed at the Fort Wellington Police Station, recalled that she was present at Anthony’s Funeral Home in the presence of another officer where she took photographs of the deceased’s body before, during and after the post-mortem examination. She said she also took pictures of the visible stab wound, she said.
The state’s fourth witness, Anil Doris, a Detective Corporal who was stationed at Blairmont Police Station’s CID at the time of the investigation, testified to visiting the Number 42 Community Centre where he noticed blood on a set of boards on a makeshift bar. He added that about 35 feet west of the bar he noticed a bloodstain on the ground. Further, he said, about five feet west of the bloodstain he noticed blood spots after which he took pictures of the scenes.
The trial is scheduled to continue tomorrow.
