At least two attorneys in separate sections of the island are backing the police’s claim of mounting difficulty in serving summonses on persons called for jury duty.
The matter has again come to the fore after Executive Director of Jamaicans for Justice, JFJ, Mickel Jackson, blasted the police for failing to do their jobs in serving summonses, leading to a 10-year delay in the trial of those connected to the death of Mario Deane.
Miss Jackson has called for the matter to be transferred from St. James Circuit Court to the Home Circuit Court in Kingston.
But as we hear in this report from Nora Gaye Banton, a change in venue for the matter is likely to encounter the same problems.
Thirty-one-year-old Mario Deane died 10 years ago after being brutally beaten while in police lockup. His family has been waiting for justice.
Mickel Jackson of JFJ, says the wait is partly to blame on the police’s failure to do their job.
But attorney-at-law based in St. James, Hugh McCurdy, says it’s not for want of trying why jurors aren’t showing up.
Nationwide News has seen correspondence from the senior police leadership in St. James advising the Supreme Court of the difficulties being faced in locating jurors.
Among the main issues facing the police are what’s described as unstructured communities with vague addresses.
The police also cite the fact that they receive little assistance from community members in locating persons, especially where persons are only known by aliases.
Persons have also migrated or relocated.
Miss Jackson says moving the Mario Deane matter to Kingston may be a solution.
But Deputy Chair of the Criminal Practice and Procedure Committee of the Bar Association, Sayeed Bernard, says the problem is very much present in the Home Circuit too.
Justice Minister Delroy Chuck announced earlier this year that the stipend paid to jurors has increased.
Persons who answer their summons will receive 2-thousand dollars for each day they appear, while those empaneled to hear a matter will receive 6-thousand dollars per day.
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