Lakeraj Fredericks who had filed an appeal against his 2017 conviction for the murder of his brother-in-law was yesterday given a reduced sentence after arguing that the 65-year term imposed was severe but his argument that the trial judge did not properly put his defence to the jury was dismissed.
Fredericks had been convicted in 2017 by a jury for shooting and killing Clifton Bonus between June 1, 2011 and June 8, 2011 at a farm in Linden.
The matter was then taken before the Guyana Court of Appeal where the appeal was heard by acting Chancellor Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Justices Rishi Persaud and Dawn Gregory. Fredericks’ attorney Rachael Bakker argued that the judge did not sufficiently guard against imputations of fact by the jury regarding evidence introduced in the trial by some witnesses, nor was he “careful to properly assess, advise and caution” the jury concerning the nature of certain evidence. On top of that, Bakker argued that the 60 years with an added five years for the use of a firearm is not only severe, but that it was not in conformity either with modern sentencing guidelines.
