Appeal Court reduces jail sentence from 13 to 10 years for attempted murder convict

Hansel Lewis, called “Smiley” and “Andre”, who is currently serving a 13-year jail sentence after being convicted of attempting to kill another man has had his sentence reduced by three years.

Back in 2016, a mixed 12-member jury found the Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, Berbice man unanimously guilty of attempting to murder Chris Burrowes aka “Bully” on New Year’s Day 2013.

The custodial sentence was imposed on him by High Court Judge Brassington Reynolds.

Aggrieved by the verdict, Lewis, through Senior Counsel Murseline Bacchus, mounted an appeal against his conviction, arguing that it was unsafe because the trial Judge failed to give the jury the appropriate directions on how to deal with the identification evidence.

However, after perusing the trial judge’s summation, the Court of Appeal (CoA) on Tuesday held: “The Trial Judge did allude to [Lewis’] denial of being the person who committed the offence. In treating with this, he cautioned the jury about the circumstances under which [Lewis] was identified and he pointed out to them that [Burrowes] was known to him [Lewis] for seven years.”

According to acting Chancellor of the Judiciary Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, who delivered the court’s decision, Justice Reynolds went on to warn the jury that given that Burrowes had known Lewis prior to the incident, this was a case of recognition and that notwithstanding this, Burrowes could still be a mistaken witness.

In light of this, the CoA held that the trial Judge gave the jury adequate directions on the issue. As it relates to Lewis’ appeal against his jail time, the CoA said that a jail sentence of 10 years, minus time already served, would be appropriate given the circumstance of the case.

According to the prosecution’s case, on that day Burrowes had left “Rainbow Bar” in New Amsterdam, Berbice where he crossed paths with Lewis who was smoking a substance.

Burrowes then asked Lewis to go somewhere else to smoke. Lewis walked off but as Burrowes was unzipping his pants to urinate, Lewis pulled out a knife from his pocket and stabbed him.

After committing the act, he walked away, and an injured Burrowes collapsed. He was taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital, where he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

A medical report indicated that Burrowes sustained a gaping wound to his throat.

Justices of Appeal Dawn Gregory and Rishi Persaud also deliberated on this matter, while Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Natasha Bakker represented the State.