CCJ sets Nov. 11 to hear Marcus Bisram’s appeal against his committal for trial
The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has fixed November 11, 2021, to commence hearing arguments in an appeal filed by businessman Marcus Bisram against a decision by the Court of Appeal for him to be committed to stand trial for the October 2016 murder of Berbice carpenter Faiyaz Narinedatt.
The hearing will commence at 10:00 hours via video conference. The lawyers last known to be representing Bisram are Darshan Ramdhanie, QC, Arudranauth Gossai, Dexter Todd, and Sanjeev Datadin. Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack will be appearing in the matter.
Back in June, the CCJ had suspended the ruling of the Court of Appeal until it hears and determines the matter. The Court also ordered the DPP not to take steps to arrest Bisram. As such, Bisram remains a free man until the apex court renders its ruling.
He was however ordered by the CCJ to remain in Guyana and present himself to the Divisional Commander or Deputy Commander of Police ‘B’ Division on Monday of every week until the matter is determined. He was also ordered to lodge his passport with the Registrar of the Supreme Court.
Over one year ago, in June 2020, High Court Judge Simone Morris-Ramlall granted an order of certiorari quashing a directive by the DPP to Magistrate Renita Singh for Bisram, a US-based Guyanese to be committed to stand trial for Narinedatt’s murder at the High Court in Berbice.
At the time, Justice Morris-Ramlall said that at the conclusion of a Preliminary Inquiry (PI), the evidence led by the prosecution against Bisram was insufficient, or, in other words, not of the quality that a reasonable jury, if properly directed, could safely convict on it.
The Judge had noted that the state or extent of the evidence is a relevant factor that should have been taken into account by the DPP in arriving at her decisions.
But in overturning the decision of Justice Ramlall, the Court of Appeal led by Chancellor of the Judiciary Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards held, “We are of the view that the committal proceedings by the magistrate and the direction by the [DPP] would not have been invalid.”
Justice Cummings-Edwards underscored that the issues raised in this case would be better ventilated at the trial court before a jury. The DPP has always maintained that her directive for Bisram to be committed to stand trial for murder is lawful, as there is sufficient evidence against him, for which a reasonable jury if properly directed, could safely convict.
Bisram’s lawyers, on the other hand, maintain that the directive from the DPP to the Magistrate, to commit Bisram to stand trial was unlawful and that it among other things offends the separation of powers doctrine.
According to Bisram’s counsel, the determination of whether a prima facie case was made out is a judicial process that has to be determined by the Magistrate at the PI and not by the DPP.
Bisram was charged with the 2016 murder of Faiyaz Narinedatt, a young father of two of Number 72 Village Corentyne, Berbice. He was later discharged at the end of the PI by Magistrate Singh who ruled that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against him
It was reported that on the night of October 31, 2016, Narinedatt attended a party Bisram hosted at his home. It is alleged that Bisram made sexual advances to Narinedatt. It was also reported that after the carpenter rejected Bisram’s advances by slapping him, Bisram ordered some men to kill him.
Narinedatt’s body was later found on the roadway. Five other men are currently on remand awaiting trial at the High Court in Berbice for Narinedatt’s murder.
