– as Acting Chief Magistrate to deal with “fresh start” issues

The long-delayed electoral fraud issues have resumed with a new set of “preliminary issues” to be resolved by Acting Chief Magistrate Faith Mc Gusty of the Georgetown Magistrates Courts.
The trial is now being handled by Magistrate McGusty, who took over from her predecessor, Chief Magistrate Leron Daly, who was on medical leave from September 2024.
The trial, involving several high-profile defendants accused of conspiring to rig the results of the 2020 national election, is set to resume with a new set of legal issues to resolve.

At a case management conference (CMC) on Wednesday, Nigel Hughes, one of the defense lawyers, raised an issue about the legal principle of de novo, or a fresh start. He argued that the case should continue without being bound by previous decisions made by Magistrate Daly.
This includes a significant decision in her tenure, which ruled that some of the other related charges should be heard indictably rather than summarily, as well as defendants’ not guilty pleas in summary proceedings (issues currently being heard by the court ). ).
Regarding the charges, the court conducts a preliminary investigation or arrest procedure to assess the merits of the charges. After hearing and evaluating the evidence presented, the magistrate may send the accused to be tried in the High Court if there is sufficient evidence. If the evidence is deemed insufficient, the accused will be released.

While the defense team argued for a fresh start, the prosecution, led by King’s lawyer Darshan Ramdhani, pointed out that the proceedings had already been set in motion and should continue in accordance with previous decisions made by the former magistrate.
Ramdhani also argued that Magistrate Daly’s earlier ruling on the format of the trial should stand, especially as it was made after careful consideration of the facts and legal framework. Ramdhani explained that sometimes the Chief Justice makes a decision to try a case summarily, which means it is dealt with in a quicker and more streamlined way.

He added that in such cases, the plea of ​​not guilty is often entered (filed) before the case is transferred to another magistrate. Once the case is with the new magistrate, Ramdhani said there is usually no need to file a new plea because the original plea remains valid.
He agreed to some extent with Hughes, acknowledging that for certain preliminary matters the case can be reopened when it is transferred to another magistrate, but otherwise the case continues on the basis of prior proceedings. Ramdhani suggested that this is standard practice in the judiciary.

“I would urge this court that this has been the practice and it should be recognized to be so,” argued the king’s counsel.
However, Hughes countered that while this may be a common practice driven by opportunity, it should not override the law. He emphasized that the law must take precedence over established practices or procedural rules.
Hughes stated, “There is a practice driven only by opportunity. When people come to court… (the magistrate would ask them) Yuh want this matter to be tried in the High Court or the Magistrates Courts? Invariably, the defendant, represented or unrepresented, would say to do it here (the courts) for a number of reasons…the punishment is less and pure expedition.

“The problem here is not one of law. The issue here is one of law which we raise as a matter of law and therefore I do not believe that practice will trump legal standing.”
Ramdhani pointed out that if found guilty by the courts, the defendants could face up to three years in prison on each charge.
Magistrate McGusty will hear oral arguments on the issue of a “fresh start” on December 9, 2024 at 10:00 a.m., after which a trial date will be set. In the meantime, the parties have until the end of this month to submit their submissions.

Importantly, the Acting Chief Magistrate, along with defense and prosecution lawyers, urged the media and public officials to avoid distorting court proceedings.
The magistrate disclosed that the judiciary had assisted him in expediting the matter, particularly by securing it with a forensic research assistant.
“So we might be able to move on as quickly as possible,” Mc Gusty remarked.

Among the defendants in the case are former District Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Chief Clairmont Mingo; former Minister of Health in the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) government, Volda Lawrence; PNC/R activist Carol Smith-Joseph; former Guyana Electoral Commission (GECOM) Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield; former Deputy Director of Elections, Roxanne Myers; and GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Babb-Cummings and Michelle Miller.
Collectively, they face 19 conspiracy charges related to alleged election fraud. All the defendants have denied the charges and are currently on bail. In addition to Hughes, the defense team consists of attorneys Ronald Daniels, Eusi Anderson and Darren Wade.
The prosecution team also includes lawyer Latchmie Rahamat and several state counsel from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

According to the State’s case, the accused allegedly conspired to defraud the electorate by casting an increased number of votes for Region Four, the largest voting district in Guyana, in favor of the APNU+AFC coalition, thus undermining Guyana’s democratic process.
The prosecution built its case on a substantial body of evidence, including flash drives containing Statements of Survey (SoPs) and Statements of Recount (SoRs), 72 witness statements and numerous official documents. Witnesses include high-profile figures such as Local Government Minister Sonia Parag; Head of the Diaspora Unit, Rosalinda Rașul; Forensic Investigator Rawle Nedd and former Region Four Police Commander Edgar Thomas.

The allegedly rigged election results, announced by Lowenfield, indicated a victory for the APNU+AFC with 171,825 votes against the People’s Progressive Party/Civics (PPP/C) 166,343.
However, a subsequent recount overseen by a team of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and GECOM reversed the result, revealing a PPP/C victory by more than 15,000 votes.

The recount clearly showed that the PPP/C won with 233,336 votes while the coalition received 217,920. GECOM made the decision to fire Lowenfield, Myers and Mingo in August 2021 after the fraud allegations came to light. Many welcomed this decision. Police filed charges against the defendants in late 2020.