Orin Jerrick who was awaiting a new trial for the 2014 murder of Gavin Fiffee is now awaiting sentencing after admitting on Tuesday that he had unlawfully killed the Plaisance minibus driver.
At his arraignment before Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall, he denied the capital charge when it was read to him, but admitted guilt on the lesser count of manslaughter.
He accepted that on July 31st, 2014 he unlawfully killed Fiffee at the Plaisance bus park, located at the corner of Avenue of the Republic and Regent Street, Georgetown.
Justice Morris-Ramlall has deferred sentencing to November 15th to first hear from probation and other social impact reports.
Back in February of 2016, Jerrick was sentenced to 28 years in jail after a jury returned a majority verdict of 11 to 1, convicting him of manslaughter in Fiffee’s killing.
He subsequently appealed his conviction which the Guyana Court of Appeal in 2020 found was unsafe, owing to a number of legal errors the trial judge had made.
As a consequence, the appellate court set that conviction aside and ordered that Jerrick face a fresh trial.
When his matter was called on Tuesday, however, he pleaded guilty to the charge of manslaughter.
Background
It has been the state’s case that Jerrick and Fiffee had an argument, during which the convict stabbed Fiffee in his chest.
The injured man was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he subsequently died.
It has always been the defence’s contention that Jerrick was defending himself from Fiffee, who was broadsiding him with a cutlass.
The evidence before the court has been that the convict had approached Fiffee and said something, after which he (Jerrick) began punching him.
The court during the trial had heard that moments later, Fiffee armed himself with a cutlass and began broadsiding Jerrick.
The court had also heard from one of the witnesses that during this time, Jerrick was seen with what appeared to have been a knife in his hand.
Jerrick is being represented by defence attorney Konyo Sandiford, while the prosecution is being represented by state counsel Muntaz Ali.
