Judges pelt DPP’s incorrect appeal of Bisram’s freedom out the door

STILL FREED: Marcus Bisram

It was three strikes out for the state and the Director of Public Prosecution on Thursday who suffered yet another defeat at their attempts to keep Marcus Bisram in jail. Judges Joann Barlow and Sandil Kisson today kicked the DPP’s application out the door after ruling that it was incorrectly filed. In fact, the court ruled it was not the job of the full court to hear the application brought by the DPP who was seeking to have the ruling of Justice Ramlal overturned. Justice Ramlal set Bisram free last week.

Marcus Bisram’s lawyers submitted to the court that they have no jurisdiction to hear the appeal matter and that the state through the Director of Public Prosecution filed the appeal and stay proceedings in the incorrect court. The judges on hearing the application on Monday and after reading submissions yesterday Wednesday dismissed the full court appeal and disallowed the stay order of Justice Ramlall which the DPP sought. The state also could not prove to the full court why the atter should be heard there.

“This is the third time within a matter of weeks the state head prosecutor in the person of the DPP went about approaching matters of law in the incorrect manner, effectively embarrassing the state” Attorney at Law Dexter Todd said in response to full court’s ruling on Thursday.

The Lawyers for Bisram have since indicated that it remains appalling that the state continues to make these miserable and significant blunders by not appraising itself with the correct law and procedures when filing matters in general.

When Magistrate Renita Singh first upheld a no-case submission in the Marcus Bisram matter in March of this year and set him free, Bisram accused the Director of Public Prosecution of religious prosecution which had no bearings as the evidence was never there that he was a party to the death of Faiyaz Narinedatt. Today his lawyers noted that their client continues to fight the malicious charge brought against him by the state.

The DPP in March ordered the police to re-arrest Bisram and for the magistrate to re-arrest Bisram with a view to committing him to stand trial for the crime.

In her ruling one week ago, Justice Ramlal noted that the DPP while the DPP does have such powers, under section 72 of the Criminal Procedures Act, she went about the procedure incorrectly.

When Bisram through his lawyers appealed the ruling of the DPP’s order to have him re-arrested on March 30, the action was filed under the Judicial Review Act. Section 22 of that act however clearly states that any appeal to section 72 should be filed in the appeal court and not in the full court as the DPP did last week.

Marcus Bisram’s lawyers noted that today the solicitor General also agreed that the got the appeal wrong. The Full Court nevertheless dismissed the case. No costs were awarded today as the judges believe that the matter was dealt with expeditiously within one week.

The state had since 2016 to go after Marcus Bisram, much of which time he was in the United States.