Two men from San Fernando have lost the novel appeal of their convictions for murdering a burger cart owner during a botched home invasion in 2006.
Appellate Judges Alice Yorke-Soo Hon, Mark Mohammed and Malcolm Holdip dismissed the appeal brought by Nigel Charles and Marlon Hope yesterday. Hope was not present to witness the legal defeat as he died while serving his sentence for felony murder on October 18, 2022.
Charles and Hope were convicted of the felony murder of Harry Chatoor in April 2019.
Under the felony murder rule, the mandatory death penalty for murder is waived in circumstances where death results during the commission of a lesser criminal offence.
The duo were sentenced to 14 years and 11 months in prison as the 13 years they spent on remand, before being convicted by a 12-member jury, was deducted from their sentences.
According to the evidence in the case, on July 7, 2006, Chatoor and his family were asleep at their Princes Town home when two men entered and shot Chatoor. The men robbed the family of electronics, jewellery and money before escaping.
Chatoor was hospitalised and succumbed to his injuries later that month.
Chatoor’s son, Rishi, identified the duo as his father’s attackers but was murdered in May 2015 before he could testify at their trial.
In the appeal, the duo’s lawyers, Jagdeo Singh and Michael Rooplal, claimed the High Court Judge who presided over their trial made an error when he allowed the jury to consider whether they were guilty of a felony or violent arrestable offence of murder when they were only charged with common law murder. (Derek Achong)
Singh said the issue was compounded by the fact that the legislation, which created the lesser offence in 1997, did not prescribe a sentence and judges were improperly sentencing convicted persons based on common-law principles.
He suggested that an amendment by Parliament was necessary to cure the sentencing deficiency of the legislation.
In dismissing the appeal, the panel affirmed the conviction and sentence against Charles.
The DPP’s Office was represented by Wayne Rajbansie.