By

|
Thursday, May
13, 2010
–
weak
ID evidence,
no-case
submission upheld
Weak
identification evidence in the Sumner/Mc Lennon murder trial resulted in
Justice Roxane George upholding a no-case submission by the defence and
subsequently ordering the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.
“To send this case to the jury would be a great injustice,” Justice
George said yesterday, adding that it would be an injustice not only to the two
accused and their families but to the family of the deceased as well.
Lodge-bandits Gunman surfaces with
acid burns Koker-door-bruk-up
Trion ‘Latie’
Sumner – after more than six years of imprisonment – walked away from the
Demerara Assizes a free man, while Quincie ‘Killer’ Mc Lennon, though
relieved of the murder charge, remained in custody owing to another indictment
pending against him.
Sumner and
Mc Lennon were accused of murdering Odingo Dungham on January 9, 2004.
Dungham’s bullet-riddled body was discovered in a clump of bushes a few feet
south of the Railway Embankment, on Church of God Road, Buxton, East Coast
Demerara. On August 10, 2004, Sumner was jointly charged with McLennon with the
murder.
After the
six-year delay – due in part to the prosecution’s inability to locate all
the witnesses – the men’s trial commenced late last month. Prior to this
Sumner had been granted bail by Justice James Bovell-Drakes.
Defence attorney
Basil Williams
made no-case submissions on Tuesday morning.
Later that day,
State Prosecutor Judith Mursalin responded to these submissions and the matter
was adjourned for ruling.
During her ruling
on Williams’ submission the judge cited several cases in support of her
decision owing to lack of sufficient evidence, particularly as it related to the
identification of the two accused.
Later, after
Justice George directed that a not-guilty verdict be returned, she chose to make
brief comments. It was her duty as the judge presiding over the Sumner/Mc Lennon
case, Justice George explained to the jury, to decide whether there was
sufficient evidence to continue.
“This was not a
good case from the beginning,” Justice George told the jury, later adding,
“Not because a person has been discharged it means they are innocent.”
The main witness,
Errol Adams, according to the judge, was unreliable.
At the beginning
of the testimony, when questioned about whether his testimony in the High Court
would be the truth to which he swore during the preliminary inquiry in the
magistrate’s court, Adams said: “I don’t know which version is the truth
but I am telling the truth”.
Adams had
testified that around 2.30 pm on the day in question he and the deceased,
Dungham, went into Buxton. He told the court that they were attacked by five men
– four were armed with guns and the other with a piece of wood.
The other members
of the group were identified in court as David ‘Biscuit’ Leander also known
as David Zammet, Simeon Hope and Orlando ‘Bullet’ Andrews. All three are
dead.
Poor
investigation
Sumner, the
witness testified, lashed him in the head and while running away he heard
gunshots; at this point Dungham was on the ground. If it is as Adams said –
that he heard the gunshots while running away – then this is an assumption and
assumptions cannot be relied on, Justice George stressed.
Adams, the judge
said, made “materially different statements” during his testimony. After
Adams started running, he said he didn’t know what happened as he headed
straight to the Vigilance Police Station.
At the police
station Adams told a policeman that he had been attacked by five men and that he
knew them. Later, when asked during court proceedings to identify the accused
Adams could not tell the court which was the number one accused and which was
the number two.
The policeman who
took Adams’ report that day told the court that he only had the descriptions
of the attackers and no names. However, he later told the court that he had no
description and no names. If the police had no description of these men and no
names, Justice George questioned, then how did they arrest them in the first
place?
There was no
identification parade during which either Sumner or Mc Lennon was identified,
there was no general description of either accused given by the witness in
court; as a result dock identification was not carried out. Police, the judge
said, provided no evidence to identify either Sumner or Mc Lennon.
These points all
show that a poor investigation was done by police, Justice George said. She
further told the jury that Mursalin did the best job she could at prosecuting
the case using the materials provided to her.
Justice George
told the jury that they should not develop any opinion since they must enter the
courtroom free of prejudice.
The prosecutor,
she said, presents a good case when there is enough evidence. If there is no
evidence or not enough evidence to prove an accused guilty beyond a reasonable
doubt then this is no fault of the prosecutor.