High Court Judge Navindra Singh on Friday dismissed a lawsuit brought against the State by Jones Raymond, the man who spent nine years on remand for murder without trial.
Jones, in 2022, filed a lawsuit against the State detailing the inhumane conditions he faced, including being assaulted by other prisoners and being shot with pellets by prison guards trying to quell a riot.
He sought a declaration that his arrest and detention for a period of nine years without trial was unreasonable and violated his constitutional right to personal liberty.
The man also sought at least $3 million in compensation for what he posited was the breach of his constitutional rights to a fair hearing within a reasonable time, for the treatment he received and for what he described as a lack of protection.
A release from the Attorney General’s Chambers noted that Justice Singh, however, found that there was no breach of Jones Raymond’s right to a fair trial.
The Court found that the Claimant’s assertion of his right to a trial does not mean that the Claimant has to specifically demand a trial, rather, the Court is entitled to assess the Claimant’s conduct in determining whether he waived his right to a trial for any or all of the delay period. The Court found that the Claimant, in indicating that he wanted to plead guilty to the lesser included offence of manslaughter, thereby causing Justice Sandil Kissoon to order that the matter be sent to the High Court at Suddie for the plea to be taken, effectively waived any period of delay prior to such indication.
Further, it was noted that Raymond had not averred to any actual instance of prejudice that he has suffered as a result of the purported delay in being able to prepare or lead a defence at a trial, in the event that he had opted to have his trial on the charge of murder.
While the Court found that there was an “unacceptable and unexplained delay” in the prosecution of the charge against Raymond, it was noted that the man’s right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time, as provided for in Article 144 of the Constitution of the Republic of Guyana, had not been infringed.
The Court also did not find that Raymond demonstrated well enough how he was subjected to inhumane treatment.
On July 15, 2022, Raymond was freed after High Court judge Sandil Kissoon found that his constitutional right to a free trial within a reasonable time was breached by the State.
He was accused of fatally stabbing Gary Joseph with an arrow on December 26, 2012, at Micobie. He was later charged and committed to stand trial in 2014 following a preliminary inquiry (PI) before Magistrate Allen Wilson.
He has admitted to killing a man with an arrow after his son was attacked but said he acted in self-defense.
In 2015, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack received the depositions for Raymond’s case and remitted the matter back to the Magistrate to do further work; but nothing was ever done.
