July 21 obstruction of justice trial for lawyer
Published:Saturday | April 23, 2022 | 12:08 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
GORDON BROWN, the attorney for businessman Michael Issa, is booked to stand trial in the St James Parish Court on July 21 for obstruction of justice in relation to a case of resisting arrest and indecent language concerning his client.
Brown, who appeared in court yesterday in a dark blue suit and with a calm demeanour, got the trial date and was bound over to attend on the next date, when the matter was briefly mentioned before presiding parish judge Sasha Ashley.
During the proceedings, the prosecution admitted that full disclosure of documents to Brown’s defence attorney, Henry McCurdy, had not been completed. However, it was indicated that the disclosure would be completed ahead of trial, with July 21 as the suggested convenient date.
Brown, who had previously appeared in court on March 30, was charged in relation to charges of negligent loss of firearm, indecent language, and resisting arrest which had been laid against Issa, the stepfather of nine-year-old Gabriel King who was brutally murdered on January 13. The details of the allegations against Brown have not been disclosed.
According to reports, Issa was arrested and charged when he went to make a police report on January 13, hours after his stepson was abducted and killed. It is understood that the matter of Issa’s licensed firearm, which went missing on December 17, 2021 and was later found, is unrelated to the child’s death.
Because the firearm was found, the negligent loss of firearm charge against him was eventually dismissed. However, Issa is set to stand trial in relation to the other charges on May 16.
While there are available updates in the respective cases concerning Issa and Brown, there have been scanty updates on the investigations into the death of young King, an issue which has provoked public criticism and condemnation.
King, who was developmentally challenged, was abducted from his mother along the Tucker main road in St James on January 13, after she was reportedly carjacked by assailants while navigating a pothole. The assailants dragged the mother from her motor car and made off with the vehicle, with the child still in the back seat.
The car was later found abandoned off the Fairfield main road in Montego Bay, and King’s body was found at the rear of the vehicle with his throat slashed. His body was later cremated on March 4.
On the heels of the child’s murder, Senior Superintendent Vernon Ellis, head of the St James Police Division, said that information revealed to the public about the case must be delivered in a way that will not compromise the investigation.