UPDATE: Accused ask judge to end murder case after 13-year wait for retrial

Livern Barrett, Senior Gleaner Writer

The four men facing a retrial for murder after a 13-year wait today asked a High Court judge to end the case.

Kimarley Cooper, Carlos Howard, Leslie Nugent and Damion Crossdale were scheduled to go on trial in the Home Circuit Court this morning for the shooting death of Desmond Lawrence in December 2001.

In April 2005, the jury that heard their first case failed to reach a verdict.

However, before the retrial started in Kingston's Home Circuit Court today, Valerie Neita-Robertson, the attorney representing Howard, asked presiding judge, Justice Courtney Daye to stay the proceedings, asserting that the men’s constitutional right to a fair trial within a reasonable time has been breached.

“It is an abuse of the process for prosecution of these men to continue after 13 years. Having regard to all the circumstances, the accused men have been severely prejudiced by that delay,” Neita-Robertson argued.

The four men were arrested in 2001 along with Gary Cooke and Richard Peart for allegedly shooting Lawrence several times as he walked with his mother along York Street, in Franklyn Town, east Kingston.

A year later, they were committed to stand trial in the Home Circuit Court following a preliminary enquiry before a Resident Magistrate's Court.

In April 2005, five of the six men faced a murder trial which ended with a deadlocked jury and a second trial was ordered.

“Since that date there have been 30 trial date,” Neita-Robertson revealed.

Cooke did not show up for his trial.

Peart has since passed away and prosecutors today confirmed that one detective who was part of the investigation has also died.

Neita-Robertson also revealed in court that a key witness for the four accused has also died.

"Today, the situation is more egregious. Consider the prejudice to us to start a trial with all these uncertainties," she told Justice Daye.

Midway Neita-Robertson’s submissions, lead prosecutor Kathy Pyke asked Justice Daye to issue an order barring the media from reporting on the abuse of process application by the four accused men.

Pyke explained that putting details of the application in the public domain could prejudice potential jurors.

But that request was shut down by the judge.

“I haven’t heard anything in the application that would affect witnesses for the prosecution,” the judge said.

Pyke is to respond to the application before Daye gives his decision.

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