Shineka Gray murder trial adjourns after failed online connection to recalled witness
Published:Wednesday | January 10, 2024 | 12:08 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Attempts to recall a police witness in the ongoing Shineka Gray murder trial by way of the Zoom online platform failed to materialise in the St James Circuit Court on Tuesday, resulting in a premature end to the day’s proceedings without any evidence being heard.
In adjourning the court’s proceedings at 2:36 p.m., more than an hour before the projected ending time for the day, Presiding High Court Justice Bertram Morrison apologised to the seven-member jury for the lack of progress after the prosecution’s attempts to connect to the witness via the online Zoom platform proved unsuccessful.
“We cannot do any better, we have to work with what we have, so we will take the adjournment now. It is one of those things which is to be regretted, as our collective time has been wasted, and I am sure it is not by design,” the visibly unhappy Morrison remarked as he dismissed the jury for the afternoon.
Gregory Roberts, the man who is currently on trial for Gray’s murder in 2017, was subsequently taken back into custody until Wednesday morning, when the matter will resume.
The prosecution had intended to recall the witness, a corporal of the Jamaica Constabulary Force [JCF] who had testified in the early days of the trial, in order to question him about an evidential exhibit.
The attempted online session was chosen to facilitate the recall as the witness was unable to physically attend Tuesday’s sitting.
This is not the first time that technology has been used to take evidence from witnesses in the trial, as evidence was previously heard from civilian witnesses, including relatives of Gray, via the Zoom platform.
Earlier on Tuesday, the prosecution had voiced its intention to recall the police witness because two other intended witnesses for the Crown were unavailable to give evidence.
To date, 16 out of a projected 18 witnesses have testified since the trial began on November 23, 2023.
Regarding the two intended witnesses, the court was advised that one of them, a former police officer, has since resigned from the JCF and migrated from Jamaica, leading to the difficulty in securing that witness’ evidence.
Roberts, who is represented by attorneys Chumu Parris and Leroy Equiano, is accused of stabbing Gray to death on the night of January 29, 2017.
Gray, a 15-year-old student of the Green Pond High School in St James, was found dead in the Irwin community in the parish on February 1 that year.
Gray was last seen alive in Montego Bay on January 29 while returning from the funeral of a schoolmate, hours before she went missing.
Following the discovery of Gray’s body, Roberts and another man, Mario Morrison, were arrested and charged with the schoolgirl’s murder.
Morrison pleaded guilty in September 2022 and was sentenced one month later to life imprisonment, leaving Roberts as the sole remaining defendant.