The 2020 elections fraud case is now before Chief Magistrate (ag) Faith McGusty who has set December 30, 2024 to determine whether the case will be restarted or resumed.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, has expressed concerns that the case can now be restarted “from the very beginning,” adding to the long list of delays faced since 2020.
“A lot of preliminary legal procedural matters have been heard and determined and disposed of by the previous magistrate. The contention now is that because this is a new magistrate, all those matters must be gone over from the beginning,” he explained during his weekly programme ‘Issues in the News.’
The AG said “it is all a strategy to delay the hearing of the cases…they are afraid to go to trial because the evidence is overwhelming.”
Facing 19 charges relating to attempts to derail the results of the 2020 General and Regional Elections are former Returning Officer for Region Four, Clairmont Mingo; former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield; his former Deputy, Roxanne Myers; former People’s National Congress/ Reform (PNCR) Chairperson Volda Lawrence; PNCR activist Carol Smith-Joseph; and GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Michelle Miller and Denise Babb-Cummings.
The trial had commenced on July 29, and was set to run from then to September 13 before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly. However, the magistrate proceeded on a prolonged period of sick leave, resulting in the case being pushed to October 31. However, on this date, the public holiday Deepavali was observed, necessitating the court to once again reschedule the sitting to the following day.
On November 1, the matter was called before the Chief Magistrate where it was revealed that she will be taking over the case, as Magistrate Daly was still unwell.
Nandlall noted that the case must be concluded in the shortest possible time, bringing the perpetrators to justice.
“Much time has passed already on this matter. This is a matter of public importance. The public is anxiously awaiting the determination of these cases,” he noted.
