The trial of Devon Thomas and Cabesh Persaud who are accused of causing the deaths of 10 persons in a boat crash back in 2013 is set to commence on Tuesday July, 13th at the High Court at Suddie.
The jury hearing the case was empaneled on Wednesday morning before Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall who will be presiding over the trial.
State Counsel Tiffini Lyken indicted the jointly-charged duo on 10 counts of manslaughter.
The charges state that on January 22nd, 2013 in the Mazaruni River, Essequi-bo, Thomas called “Beast” and Persaud called “Dube” unlawfully killed Ricky Bobb, Keanu Amsterdam, Deon Moses, Kevon Ambrose, Christopher Ramnarine, Zahir Baksh, Jewan Seeram, Ulrick Grimes, Jermaine Calistro and Brazilian national Francisco Olivera Alves.
At their arraignment, they pleaded not guilty to the indictments.
Lyken has indicated to the court that the prosecution will be calling some 20 witnesses to testify.
The collision which claimed the lives of the 10 is said to have occurred at about 12:30 on the night in question in the Crab Falls area; between a small open boat, Dube, and another small open boat, Mattrani, in the Mazaruni River.
The Dube was travelling from Parika to Puruni, while the Mattrani, was leaving Puruni and was destined for Parika via Bartica.
