We completed 20 issues at Berbice Criminal Assize, Essequibo

A total of 20 issues have been completed to date at Essequibo and Berbice Criminal Assizes that are ongoing and will run until May 17 and June 14, 2021, respectively. Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall sat until January 2021, closing the October 2020 Assizes for Essequibo.

The Assassinations of February 2021 then opened on February 2, 2021.
A total of 101 cases are listed for hearing during this session but only 13 have been disposed of so far. Of the 13, eight were for the offense of murder, two for attempted murder and three for sexual offenses.
In three of the eight murder cases, one of the accused was acquitted by the jury. Two of them were sentenced to life imprisonment, while the other accused were convicted on the lesser charge of manslaughter and sentenced to an 11-year prison term.
In the other five cases, six accused had all pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of manslaughter. They were each sentenced to 16 years, 15 years, nine years, and two months, 11 years, and 13 years and two months imprisonment. In one of these cases, an accused minors was sentenced to two months in custody and three years of probation.

There were two cases for the offense of attempted murder with another count of felonious wounding. The juries in these cases returned unanimous verdicts for the alternate count and sentenced the two accused to six years and seven months and seven years and 11 months in prison.
In one of the three sexual offenses issues, the accused pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment. The complainants in the other two matters informed the court that they did not wish to proceed with their evidence and the Judge directed the jury to return innocent formal verdicts.
Meanwhile, Essequibo Criminal Assizes commenced on February 16, 2021, with 71 cases listed for hearing. Of the 71 cases, seven were presented to Justice Gino Persaud. Of these seven issues, five were for the crime of murder and one each for manslaughter and rape offenses under the age of 16.
In two of the murder cases, two accused pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. One accused was sentenced to seven years, two months and six days imprisonment while the other was awaiting sentencing. In one of the other two cases, the accused was convicted by a jury and is awaiting sentencing.
In the other case the jury returned hanging and the accused was remanded to jail pending a fresh trial. One case was aborted after it began because the court found that one of the jurors was over 60. The accused in this matter was also remanded to prison pending a fresh trial. The accused who was found guilty of manslaughter was found guilty by a jury and is awaiting sentencing. The issue of the crime of rape of a child under 16 continues.
So far for 2021, the DPP Chambers appeared in eight appeals in the Court of Appeal for murder, manslaughter, rape, assault causing actual bodily harm, sexual activity with a child under 16, dangerous driving, and explosives in his possession.
Of these seven appeals, six were applications to appeal against conviction and sentence. In one case, the court granted the appellant’s request for a new trial for the crime of murder.
Another application was granted in part with the sentence being varied. One application was withdrawn, while the other three applications were rejected. Two further appeals against conviction and sentences are still pending.