The man charged in the death of a little girl following a jet ski crash in Ocho Rios has been freed by the court.
An Indian national was freed Friday, February 24 after a jury found him not guilty of manslaughter in the St Ann Circuit Court.
Ranjan Mandyal, a software engineer from India was charged in relation to a jet ski crash on the Ocho Rios Bay beach that claimed the life of 6-year-old Tanoya Hyman on August 17, 2013.
The jury deliberated for over two hours and returned with a five to two verdict of not guilty. Presiding Judge Justice Georgiana Fraser later told Mandyal that he was free of all charges.
Mandyal’s attorney, Linton Gordon in speaking to members of the media said that his client was pleased that the matter had been brought to a conclusion.
“The recently accused gentleman is quite pleased to know that the matter has been brought to a conclusion. It was quite a difficult case with emotions on both sides. After all, we were dealing with an unfortunate situation in which a young Jamaican lost her life,” Mr Gordon explained.
He pointed to the fact that Mandyal had chosen to give sworn evidence and he was vigorously cross examined by a very experienced prosecutor, Maxine Jackson and stood his ground and maintained that it was a very unfortunate accident caused by matters over which he had no control.
“But from the outset, the position of Mr Mandyal was that it was an accident. Someone rode another bike across his path and he tried to avoid colliding with that bike and ended up very unfortunately in the swimming area, where persons were,” Mr Gordon added.
THE TRIAL
The prosecution led evidence at the trial that on August 17, 2013 Tanoya Hyman and family members were on the sandy area of the beach, at the Turtle Towers in Ocho Rios St Ann, when an out-of-control jet ski driven recklessly by Mandyal ploughed into the group.
Hyman was killed and her aunt, her sister, stepsister along with others were injured in the crash. A post-mortem report tendered into evidence stated that Hyman died from head injuries.
However, Mandyal testified at the trial that he did not intentionally drive the jet ski into the swimming area of the beach.
He said that an instructor had driven another jet ski in his path and he tried to avoid collision with that bike, but the lever was stuck on medium and he lost control of the bike and entered the swimming area.
However, the prosecution called to give evidence Austin Lobban, the marine inspector from the Maritime Authority of Jamaica who inspected thejet ski following the accident. He said that that the jet ski was fine and showed no sign of malfunctioning.
Mandyal in his testimony also claimed that on the day of the accident that he never saw the instructor or anyone waving to him or whistling to him to stop and he argued that it was the instructor that came into his path saw so suddenly and they almost collided.
He said he was not able to press the red button on the jet ski to stop it because everything happened in seconds where he was hitting people.
However, the instructor, Demario Reid, who was one of several witnesses called to testify, explained that he was giving instructions to Mandyal on how to ride the jet ski and when he left him he was riding the jet ski perfectly for about half an hour.
Reid also claimed that he did signal to Mandyal to stop, but Mandyal’s hands were still on the handle and he went very fast into the swimming area.
RECKLESS
However, Mandyal continued to explain that he could have died and he had no reason to drive the jet ski into the swimming are where people were.
In her final arguments to the jurors, assistant director of public prosecutions, Maxine Jackson told the seven jurors that Mandyal was reckless and careless when he drove the jet ski. She further argued that he did not turn or swerve away from the swimming area and there was no evidence to suggest that the jet ski was faulty.
However, Mandyal’s attorney, Linton Gordon in his final arguments told the jurors that what transpired on the day was a tragic accident. He said that his client was put in an impossible situation where the lever was stuck and the crash occurred in mere seconds.
