| Murder accused, Nazrudeen Jahoot, called “Buddy”, 22, of Cotton Tree, West Coast Berbice, is expected to know his fate today after Justice Brassington Reynolds sums up the evidence to the mixed jury.Jahoot is on trial in the Berbice High Court for the murder of Ramlall Mangal, called “Ochro” and “Dereck” also of Cotton Tree. The killing took place on August 25, 2008.Both the prosecution and the defence closed their cases and presented their closing arguments to the judge and mixed jury. The state closed its case after the testimony of Dr Vivekananda Brijmohan.Earlier, the accused had given an unsworn statement from the dock in which he stated that around midday on August 25, he had packed his bag and left the area for Lethem in pursuit of a job in that area. He said that a few days later he received a call from Lisa Mangal who told him that her father had died.He added that when he was arrested at Lethem he gave the officer his correct name. He said that it was Lisa Mangal who lied.He said he was subsequently brought to Georgetown and then later transferred to Fort Wellington.The doctor whose unavailability during last week had stalled the trial,Cheap Authentic Jerseys Free Shipping, turned up in court during the morning hours. The matter was rescheduled to commence at 13:00 hrs but the doctor did not return.In closing submissions defence attorney Charrandass Persaud concentrated his arguments on the taking of the caution statement and the signature of the accused on the said statement. He also questioned the timing of the taking of the statement, which he said had some irregularities and urged the jury to take those into consideration.State Prosecutor Prithina Kissoon in her submission drew the jury’s attention to the fact that the accused signed eight times on the Caution statement. She also told the jury to look at the two times that the accused admitted he signed in the two station diaries (at Eve Leary and Fort Wellington) and see the similarities. At no time somebody will sign exactly the same way, she asserted.A number of witnesses had testified, including police officers, Detective Assistant Superintendent, Trevor Reid, Detective Inspector Kadarnauth Bejaimal, Detective Sergeant Gilbert Ross, Detective Corporals Michael Peters and Juke Jacques, woman Detective Corporal Daniel Blair, Detective Constable Mark Fraser and Constable Devon Semple.Ivorene Dukhia the wife of the deceased also testified to what transpired before and after her husband’s death while Ramdeo Sookra, a nephew of the deceased, identified the body for the post mortem.Mangal was allegedly stabbed to death around midday on August 25, 2008 during a fight with the accused. The men allegedly ended up in a trench, where Mangal was stabbed repeatedly.He allegedly came out of the trench and sat on a bench under a shed in front of his house where he bled to death and was found in a sitting position.The accused, who was 18 at the time of the crime, fled to Lethem and was cohabiting with the victim’s daughter when he was arrested. He gave a statement telling the officers how he killed “Ochro.” |
