ACTING Chief Magistrate Juliet Holder-Allen yesterday overruled Defence no-case submissions and committed the accused cop killers of Yohance Douglas to stand jury trial for his murder.
The Court ruled that the Prosecution had established a prima facie case against policemen Mahendra Baijnauth and Gerald Alonzo, who are charged with unlawfully killing the University of Guyana (UG) student in the fatal March 1, 2003 shooting on Sheriff Street, Georgetown.
Ruling at the end of the preliminary inquiry (PI) into the joint charge for the capital offence, Mrs. Holder-Allen said the most important part of the case was that five Police constables, all armed, went into the line of duty with no supervision.
Mrs. Holder-Allen said the fact that they did not object to being unsupervised suggests that they accepted full responsibility for whatever happened in the process and ascertaining what frame of mind the accused were in at the time of the fatality is a matter for a jury.
Earlier, attorney-at-law Mr Compton Richardson, for Alonzo, reiterated his January 27 argument that there was no evidence to suggest the co-accused fired the fatal shot and, in the absence of such, it would be improper to draw the inference that he did.
On the issue of identification, Richardson said one witness, Quacy Heywood fingered a “red-skinned guy with a handgun” who had not been identified as a member of the Police patrol implicated in the crime.
The lawyer submitted that no testimony has been led by the Prosecution to prove that the unidentified man did not fire the bullet, which killed the victim.
Senior Counsel Bernard DeSantos, representing Baijnauth, contended there was no evidence to suggest the latter caused the demise of Douglas.
“The evidence is that Yohance Douglas was struck in the back and I will submit that the evidence, when analysed, is inconsistent with the fact that Baijnauth could have shot him,” DeSantos maintained.
He said, according to the evidence, Baijnauth fired a single shot and the witness Ronson Gray confirmed that it struck him in the jaw as he sat in the driver’s seat of the car in which he and others, including Douglas, were travelling.
DeSantos said, too, that the accused were in pursuit of their lawful business as members of the Guyana Police Force and did not engage in any joint enterprise to perpetrate any unlawful act.
Responding to the two other lawyers, State Counsel Jo-Ann Barlow, from the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), pointed out that, undoubtedly, the five cops left their base on a lawful tour of duty.
She said their mission became unlawful when the leader, Baijnauth aimed and fired at an unarmed man, hitting him in the face.
Barlow said, when the vehicle, PHH 8115, in which Douglas and his companions were, had been intercepted, a gunshot immediately rang out after someone from the policemen’s CRV said something that no one in the other automobile understood.
She said, even though the policemen might have said: “Police! Pull over!” the driver of the Douglas vehicle had no time to comply.
Barlow said depositions from witnesses O’Neil King and Quacy Heywood suggest that the bullet, which struck Gray, was from Baijnauth’s gun and policeman Wendel Thomas, who was on the patrol, as well, supported that theory.
State Counsel continued that, although there is no direct proof of who fired the fatal shot, there is enough circumstantial evidence to conclude it was Alonzo.
Barlow said the evidence is that two persons fired gunshots and Baijnauth’s hit Gray, accounting for his.
The only person firing from behind was Alonzo, who admitted he discharged 10 rounds from his M-70 rifle at the wheels of PHH 8115, Barlow said.
Nevertheless, in her submission, the wheels were not the intended targets because the car was a short distance away, moving slowly and Alonzo missed them completely.
“The nature and position of the injury are consistent with someone taking specific aim at a person in the car, rather than lower, at the wheels,” Barlow concluded.
She refuted any suggestion that the “red-skinned guy” fired, saying the evidence from Heywood attests that he saw the man for the first time, after the shooting had abated, standing on Sheriff Street.
Barlow said the evidence from Heywood further shows that the “red-skinned guy” and “a Negro guy” took them to Brickdam Police station.
She said the “red-skinned guy” is Thomas and he testified that he was indeed standing on Sheriff Street and was the driver of the vehicle, which took the Douglas group to Brickdam Police Station.
Thomas said he did not fire any shots because he felt his colleagues had the situation under control.
Barlow said Baijnauth was responsible for the murder, as he was the commander of that morning patrol and was the one who fired the first shot.
“He could have also ordered his colleague to desist from shooting, if he so desired”.
She added that, when he said: “The car still moving”, after Gray was shot, Baijnauth could have encouraged continuation of the shooting which had fatal consequences.
After their committal, Baijnauth and Alonzo both maintained innocence and reserved their defence for the High Court.
Eighteen witnesses testified since the PI started in May 2003.