The Guyana Court of Appeal yesterday commenced hearing Mark Samuels’ request to quash his conviction for the 2007 murder of his reputed wife, Chandrowattie Lalla.
Sentenced to death for the crime, Samuels is also asking the court to vary the capital punishment, citing its “severity.”
He has argued, through his attorney Sonia Parag, that the mandatory death penalty, as existed in 2009, contravened article 141 (1) of the Constitution, which provides that “No person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading punishment or other treatment.”
