Juror shortage, lawyer dispute spark case backlog
Published:Tuesday | November 9, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter
Several cases set for trial this week in the Home Circuit Court had to be put off because of insufficient jurors and the recent decision by defence lawyers not to accept legal-aid assignments because the Government owes them $36 million.
Justice Kay Beckford said she hoped the dispute with the Government and the lawyers would be resolved soon so that legal representations could be settled for accused persons who could not afford to pay lawyers.
One of the cases on the court list was that of Renardo Levy, who is charged with murder.
Levy, who has been in custody since December 2007, told the court that his lawyers told him they would not be able to represent him because they were not being paid for legal-aid work.
Jeremy Taylor, deputy director of public prosecutions, said he received a letter yesterday morning from attorney-at-law Seymour Stewart indicating that he had asked a senior lawyer to lead him in the case, but they were now unable to take the case to trial.
"These courts have really gone down," Beckford remarked when she heard that no reason had been given for the withdrawal.
The judge told Levy the lawyers were not taking legal-aid cases and enquired whether he could pay a lawyer.
Levy, who is in custody, said it was difficult for his mother to pay a lawyer and asked for bail so he could search for a job so he could pay one.
"The case has been going on from 2003 and it seems like is live me going to live here so," Levy said as he objected to the long delay in having his case being tried. The preliminary inquiry was completed in 2004 and sent to the Circuit Court for trial.
The judge asked Taylor how long he believed the Government was going to take to settle the row with the lawyers. Taylor said, from what he had heard, the executive director of the Legal Aid Council, Hugh Faulkner, had said the justice ministry was taking steps to pay the money.
Beckford set Levy's case for mention on November 26 for legal-aid assignment and bail application.
The case of five accused men charged with murder had to be put off to January 17 next year because of insufficient jurors. Taylor told the court that 1,129 jurors were served to attend court but only 44 turned up.