-trial magistrate still on sick leave
The criminal trial involving several former election officials accused of fraud during the 2020 General Elections has been postponed for an additional 45 days.
The further delay follows the extended sick leave of the presiding magistrate, Leron Daly, who remains unable to return to court due to illness.
Scheduled to resume yesterday, the trial did not resume as attorneys were notified that Magistrate Daly, who had initially been granted a 30-day medical leave of absence, is still unwell. In light of this situation, Acting Chief Magistrate, Faith McGusty, adjourned the case until October 31. Magistrate McGusty also stated that if Magistrate Daly is still unavailable at that time, the court may consider motions from the parties to potentially reassign the case to another magistrate.
The trial centres on allegations of attempted electoral fraud during the 2020 elections. The defendants include former Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield; former Deputy Chief Election Officer, Roxanne Myers; and former Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo. Also charged are Opposition Member of Parliament Volda Lawrence, People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) member Carol Smith-Joseph, and election officers, Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Bobb-Cummings, and Michelle Miller.
Proceedings initially began on July 29, but were quickly stalled after just three days. The prosecution raised concerns over the exclusion of key evidence, which Magistrate Daly had ruled inadmissible, and expressed frustration over the frequent objections made by the defence. These procedural disputes led to the first postponement in early August when Magistrate Daly went on medical leave.
So far, only two witnesses have testified since the trial began. Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Sonia Parag provided testimony over the course of the first two days, followed by Rosalinda Rasul.
The trial has faced numerous delays, starting with issues related to the proper organisation of case files, which pushed proceedings back to January. Subsequently, the defence raised objections regarding the admissibility of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) minutes, leading to further postponements. In May, the case experienced another delay when defence counsel Nigel Hughes argued over the issue of fair hearing.
The charges which were initially read to the defendants in June of 2021 state that between March 2nd of 2020 and August 2nd also of 2020, they conspired with each other to defraud the electors of Guyana by declaring a false account of votes cast for the general election which was held on March 2nd, 2020.
On July 31st, state prosecutor in the elections fraud case, Darshan Ramdhani KC challenged Magistrate Daly on decisions she made on the first two days and her note-taking.
The exchanges went as far as the Magistrate making her ledger available for Ramdhani to inspect the notes that she had taken.
Ramdhani stated that several observations were made based on the Magistrate’s approach towards the evidence being presented. The prosecution debated for a long period with the Magistrate as they argued the relevance of mentioning the names of third parties.
The prosecutor told the Magistrate that on several occasions, she had not made notes of matters to be used as evidence. Magistrate Daly then asked the prosecution to be specific in highlighting the issues so that they could be addressed. Ramdhani continued to argue his case. Magistrate Daly then insisted that the prosecution point out instances where important pieces of evidence were omitted and she outlined her duties as Magistrate and added that she has the authority to omit what is irrelevant in an evidence statement. Magistrate Daly briefly explained her authority as Magistrate and Ramdhani – a former magistrate – subsequently apologized and further outlined the issues.
As Magistrate Daly’s notes of record were questioned by the prosecution, the Magistrate handed over the ledger that was being used to make notes to Ramdhani as he indicated that he observed her not taking notes at critical points when the witnesses were testifying. Magistrate Daly further explained that her notes are the official records of the case. This prompted the prosecution to request the video footage of the proceedings after which her notes were examined for about fifteen minutes. Magistrate Daly then left the bench and allowed the prosecution to peruse her notes and it was after having a discussion with both the prosecution and the defence in her chambers that she returned to the bench.
Ramdhani also made submissions about admissibility and the mentioning of names of persons who are not defendants.
After the recess on July 31st, the Magistrate told the court that there were some issues that will be reviewed and the matter was adjourned to August 5. On August 5th, it was stated that she was unwell.
