Acting Chief Magistrate now assigned to preside over Elections Fraud case
Nov 02, 2024
Accused: Clairmont Mingo (right) and Keith Lowenfield (left)
Kaieteur News- The trial into the 2020 Elections Fraud case will now be overseen by Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty, with proceedings set to begin anew on November 6, 2024, at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
This decision was made during a hearing on Friday, where Magistrate McGusty informed both the defence and prosecution, that the order to replace Senior Magistrate Leron Daly, who was initially appointed to the case, came from Chancellor of the Judiciary of Guyana Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards.
“Having observed the past events of Senior Magistrate Daly, who reported sick for an extended period of time, the honourable Chancellor indicated that the matter should now be overseen by a new magistrate, which means that the matter will have to restart,” McGusty explained.
Present in court were the accused: former GECOM Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, former Returning Officer for District Four Clairmont Mingo, and APNU+AFC’s Chief Scrutineer Carol Smith Joseph. Roxanne Myers appeared virtually. Four other defendants, including former Minister of Health, Volda Lawrence and former GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Liven, Michelle Miller, and Denise Babb-Cummings, were absent.
Accused: Carol Smith-Joseph (Acting Chief Magistrate now assigned to preside over Elections Fraud case)
Although the Chancellor requested that the trial should have restarted on Friday, both the defence and prosecution indicated they were unprepared to proceed. Prosecution attorney Latchmie Rahamat noted that her first witness, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Sonia Parag, is out of the jurisdiction. Another witness scheduled to retake the stand is Head of the Diaspora Unit, Rosalinda Rasul.
Additionally, Special Prosecutor Darshan Ramdhani KC (Kings Council) was not present, and defence attorney Eusi Anderson informed the court that he and his colleague, Darren Wade were also out of the jurisdiction but would return by next Wednesday.
After a back-and-forth discussion about restarting the trial, the court scheduled a Case Management Conference (CMC) for November 6, 2024 at 14:00hrs where the parties will meet with Magistrate McGusty to discuss the case and determine how to proceed.
Magistrate McGusty also requested that all testimonies be documented using a recording device to expedite the trial process. “If something is recorded, it cannot be withdrawn, and it will make for a speedier trial,” she highlighted.
The trial involves nine defendants facing 19 conspiracy charges. These charges allege that between March 2 and August 2, 2020, at Ashmins’ Building in Georgetown, Lowenfield, Mingo, and Myers conspired with Lawrence, Joseph, February, Liven, Cummings, Miller, and others to defraud the electors of Guyana by presenting false votes from the March 2, 2020, general and regional elections.
(Acting Chief Magistrate now assigned to preside over Elections Fraud case)
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