Senior Magistrate Alex Moore on Tuesday recused himself from a matter after informing the court that he had received a call from a senior staffer of the Guyana Forensic Science Laboratory (GFSL), who reportedly expressed concern about the manner in which he was handling an ongoing matter.
According to information gathered, the matter pertains to a woman who was charged last year with having counterfeit notes in her possession.
During the trial at the Springlands Magistrate’s Court, a staffer of the GFSL was called by the prosecution to testify as an expert in identifying counterfeit notes.
Stabroek News was told that during cross-examination, the defence counsel challenged the staffer on certain matters pertaining to her credentials and based on her answers, the matter was then adjourned so as to facilitate the prosecution with the opportunity to better equip themselves with the necessary information to respond to the defence’s questions.
However, this seemed to have upset a senior staff member of the GFSL as, during the phone call, the staff member reportedly questioned the magistrate’s authority to question the credentials of the staff member who testified.
The magistrate reportedly relayed the conversation to the courtroom before recusing himself.
The matter has been adjourned and is expected to be reassigned by the chief magistrate.
Meanwhile, persons are now questioning what will be the next step as one pointed out that had it been the accused, then that person could have possibly faced a charge of perverting the course of justice.
