A former murder accused who was on the remand for over 6 years for the murder of his cousin, has taken a step through his Attorney to sue the state for $100M for holding him in custody unlawfully while not affording him a High Court trial during those six years.

33-year-old Cloyd Harris through his lawyers has indicated that the lawsuit was filed over damages for breach of his Constitutional rights.

Harris is asking the Court to declare that he was unlawfully arrested and detained for almost seven years without a reasonable trial as is afforded by the Constitution of Guyana.

He is also contending that he is entitled to compensation for the unconstitutional deprivation of his liberty as well as damages.

The former murder accused wants the state to pay him for the time that he spent behind bars.

Harris was arrested and charged back in 2012 for the murder of his 71-year-old, Cousin, Derrick Cox, who was shot by suspected bandits outside his shop.

While he was arrested and charged and committed to stand trial, he spent close to seven years awaiting that trial as documents from the Magistrates’ Court had not been forwarded to the High Court.

The DPP caused the reopening of the preliminary inquiry to admit additional evidence from one of the witnesses and it was that witness who was key to the case who testified that he had not seen the accused commit the act.

The case was thrown out for lack of evidence. The man said the time he spent behind bars for a crime he did not do has caused his decision to sue the state.

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