An accused murderer files a civil suit against the State
– alleges a breach of the right to a fair hearing
Lennox called Wayne ‘Two Colors.’
Kaieteur News – Noting the amount of time he has been behind bars awaiting criminal proceedings, murder accused Lennox Wayne has filed a civil case against the State over what he calls right to a fair hearing.
Wayne was called ‘Two Colors,’ and his co-accused, Melroy Doris, had been jailed for the murder of Lusignan cosmetologist Ashmini Harriram.
Harriram was shot in her neck moments after she boarded a minibus along the Lusignan Railway Embankment, Demerara East Coast, on Thursday, July 10, 2014. Back in 2017, Wayne and his co-accused faced a case in the High Court but were remanded to prison after the jury failed to meet a verdict on the murder charge, which they faced.
Following the verdict, Trial Judge Jo Ann Barlow had informed the accused that the jury could not decide whether they were guilty or not guilty of murder. He explained that the suspended jury means they will have to “remain in custody and have another case during another session at Demerara Criminal Assizes.”
Ever since then the duo has been in custody.
In that regard, Wayne through his attorney, Nigel Hughes, asks the High Court for several orders, including an order to accept him on bail pending a hearing and a decision on his Fixed Date Application (FDA) challenging was imprisoned. He also wants a permanent stay of the murder charge and a declaration that his rights, guaranteed by the provisions of Article 144 of the Guyana Constitution, have been violated.
According to court documents seen in this newspaper, the accused murderer also filed for compensation of more than $ 100,000 for violating his fundamental right to a fair hearing as guaranteed by the provisions of Article 144 of the Guyana Constitution.
In an affidavit to support his claim, the applicant asks the Court to consider among other things that he has been jailed for the offense since October 2014.
He said he had been awaiting court action since November 2015, after he committed to stand trial in the High Court by a Magistrate. Since then, Wayne indicted him for his trial, which ended in a hung jury in 2017, but ever since, he hasn’t had a chance to go to Court.
The applicant also stated that his name was listed for retria in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, but his case never came up.
According to Wayne, despite his demise in prison, all attempts to speed up his trial had been futile.
He noted that his concerns about the delay had been raised at Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) level, but had not been addressed. Wayne listed several other avenues, which tried to address his concerns about the delay to trial, but in vain.
In the circumstances, the murder accused said he believed his rights to a fair trial as guaranteed by the constitution had been violated. He hopes that the High Court will address his concerns and grant the reliefs sought.