BREAKING: CCJ frees stepdad, reduces mother’s jail sentence in Neesa Gopaul murder
Guyana’s highest court in a majority ruling overturned the murder conviction of Jarvis Small in the 2010 death of his stepdaughter, 16-year-old Neesa Gopaul, freeing the former murder convict who had been incarcerated since 2010.
The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), however, affirmed the conviction of Bibi Shareema-Gopaul in her own daughter’s murder, rejecting arguments from her lawyer that her conviction was unsafe due to the admittance of highly prejudicial evidence along with there being insufficient evidence.
Following a trial before Justice Navindra Singh at the Demerara High Court in 2015, Shareema Gopaul and her lover, Small were found guilty of the teen’s killing by a mixed 12-member jury.
Justice Singh subsequently sentenced Small and Gopaul to 102 years and 96 years’ imprisonment, respectively. They later appealed their convictions and sentences to the Court of Appeal of Guyana, which in September 2021, allowed their appeals in part, affirming their convictions for murder but reducing their jail sentence to 45 years each.
They appealed again, this time, to the CCJ.
The mother’s appeal was allowed in part, in that, the CCJ reduced her prison sentence from 45 to 25 years, giving her full credit for time spent on remand which amounts to five years. In so doing, the regional court said that the 45-year sentence was “manifestly excessive”.
Her parole eligibility was set at “not before 15 years” by the CCJ.
In overturning Small’s conviction and sentence, the CCJ held that besides there being insufficient evidence to link him to the crime, the trial Judge admitted highly prejudicial evidence.
But in upholding Shareema-Gopaul’s conviction, the regional court ruled that the prosecution had established the ingredients of the offence and that the teen’s mother had failed to cast reasonable doubt on the prosecution’s case.
The case was heard by CCJ President Justice Adrian Saunders and CCJ Judges Maureen Rajnauth-Lee, Jacob Wit, Denys Barrow, and Peter Jamadar.
Small was represented by Attorneys-at-Law Ronald Daniels and Nigel Hughes while Shareema-Gopaul was represented by Attorney-at-Law Arudranauth Gossai.
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack, SC appeared on behalf of the State of Guyana.
Neesa Gopaul was killed between September 23, and October 4, 2010.
The decomposed remains of the Queen’s College student was found stuffed inside a suitcase, which was anchored with several dumbbells in a creek at the Emerald Tower Resort, at Madewini, Linden-Soesdyke Highway.
Her badly decomposed body was found with the head bashed in.
