Jury undecided so judge orders retrial

A Guaracara woman testified that she was kidnapped and raped by a taxi-driver, but the accused claimed that he and the woman had a consensual sexual relationship. But the jury at the San Fernando First Criminal Assizes could not reach an unanimous decision and a retrial was ordered. Without saying which way the decision swung, the foreman of the nine-member jury said the panel was hung 6-3 on the decision. The jurors were sent into the jury room twice and deliberated for a total of two hours and 20 minutes. In the end, the victim left the courtroom in tears. Trial judge Alice Yorke-Soo Hon thanked the jurors for their services and sent the matter for retrial in June.

The State’s case, presented by acting assistant Director of Public Prosecu-tions Joan Honore Paul, was that on August 11, 2002, the 40-year-old accused took the victim, who was a passenger in his taxi, near the Piparo volcanoe instead of to Guaracara, as she had requested. The victim testified that the accused choked and threatened to kill her as he forced her to have sex with him. In his defence, the accused claimed the sexual act was consensual and that a relationship existed between him and the victim.