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When the High Court arraignment for the May Criminal Session convened this morning, of the four individuals who appeared in court, there was only one guilty.<\/p>\n
Randolph Piper, a male adult of Cochrane is now remanded into custody at the Dominica State Prison pending sentencing by the court, succeeding his guilty plea to bestiality.<\/p>\n
According to the indictment, on March 25, 2020, at Cochrane, Piper had sexual intercourse with a heifer (a female cow that has not borne a calf). Following his plea, Director of the Legal Aid Clinic, Peter Alleyne, who represents Piper requested that the court order a Social Inquiry Report and psychiatric report for his client before passing sentence.<\/p>\n
However, the presiding judge, His Lordship, the Hon. Justice Thomas W. R. Astaphan stated the court cannot grant a request for a psychiatric evaluation against any individual without just reason.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cannot order and subject a person to psychiatric analysis unless there is reason to believe that they have a psychiatric problem. There must be an evidentiary basis for the court to grant this request,\u201d His Lordship declared.<\/p>\n
In response, the defense attorney argued that based on the infrequency of such criminal acts, evaluation is needed. Following consultation with Piper, Alleyne informed the court of his past mental health issues.<\/p>\n
His request was subsequently granted, and the matter was adjourned to May 26, 2023, for the Social Inquiry Report and psychiatric report.<\/p>\n
Of the four matters which came for hearing at arraignment, three were sex-related offenses.<\/p>\n
The court has granted bail in the sum of $50,000.00 to a northern man who pleaded not guilty to Buggery, Unlawful Sexual Connection, and Indecent Assault against a 13-year-old boy, while another man from the north was further remanded into custody following his not guilty plea of indecently assaulting a woman by allegedly pinching the nipple of her breast.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a Portsmouth man, Andre Marvin Paul has been granted bail in his own recognizance for $10,000.00 following his indictment for Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH) and Unlawful Wounding.<\/p>\n
It is alleged that on May 1, 2021, at the Indian River Complex in Portsmouth, Paul unlawfully and maliciously wounded Renick Elizee with intent to cause him GBH.<\/p>\n
He pleaded not guilty to both charges.<\/p>\n
When the issue of the continuation of his bail arose, the court was not satisfied that his surety had the financial mean and assets to stand for the continuation of his bail.<\/p>\n
Succeeding passionate pleas by his attorney Wayne Norde and Gina Abraham-Thomas and numerous failed attempts to secure another surety, Paul’s bail was reduced from $15,000.00 to $10,000.00 without a surety and reporting conditions attached.<\/p>\n
Paul is expected to return to court on May 26, 2023, for case management.<\/p>\n
The matters were led by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Sherma Dalrymple assisted by State attorney Marie Louise Pierre-Louis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When the High Court arraignment for the May Criminal Session convened this morning, of the four individuals who appeared in court, there was only one guilty. Randolph Piper, a male adult of Cochrane is now remanded into custody at…","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":302406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,77,235,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-302405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-court-law","category-homepage","category-homepage-carousel","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n