'Disgraceful!' - Judge displeased with attendance at opening of Hilary Session in St Catherine

The absence of jurors and defence attorneys from the opening of the Hilary Session of the St Catherine Circuit Court on Monday drew the displeasure of the presiding judge, Justice Bertram Morrison.

Justice Morrison described the situation as disgraceful and unfortunate.

"At a time when we have 42 murder cases to be tried, there are no lawyers here to help us proceed with the listed matters," Morrison said.

"We need full cooperation to have these cases dealt with. It is a sad and unacceptable  situation, which must be addressed," he continued.

The session has a total of 274 cases on the roster.

Most of these cases relate to sexual offences, murder and lottery scamming.

It was revealed that 180 juror notices were sent out to be served for the session.

Attorney-at-law Sean Kinghorn, who turned up late for the opening, was met with empty benches.

"It is an unfortunate situation where the absence of my colleagues are concerned, although I am the least of the apostles. I am really shocked," Kinghorn said. 

He stated, "I have a matter here and was thinking that the courtroom would have been packed."

-Rasbert Turner

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