DPP Determines Guzman’s Chopping Death was Self Defense  

Last Thursday, sixty-one-year-old Ubaldo Guzman was chopped to death at his home in Santa Elena Town. He was killed after a dispute with his drinking partner Peter August. August claimed that he acted out of self-defense, however, this has left family members and friends of Guzman confused as they knew him to have an injured hand. August was subsequently charged with manslaughter. We asked Commissioner of Police Chester Williams for some insight into August’s charge.

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“I will not go into specifics, but I can say to you that When it comes to  a person who  has caused the death of another person  by  unlawful harm,  where that person  raises the  defense of self defense.  The police cannot  on our own charge.  The criminal code dictates that we must  send that decision to the DPP office for directives.  And in this case, they  accuse person raise his self-defense that he was attacked first by Guzman with a match and he was trapped. And he do have a chap wound.  And he  defended himself,  leading to Guzman’s death.  Now this is a situation where two persons are in a house.  There are no independent witnesses to contradict what  the accused killer  is saying.  And the DPP office  would be guided by the evidence before them.  In arriving at the decision as to whether to charge for murder or manslaughter.  And in this particular case, they opted to charge for manslaughter based on the statement given by the accused killer. And so the police just simply carried out the instructions as given by the DPP office.”