Jury troubles continue, trial goes behind closed doors

(CNS): Following the first day of closed door legal arguments yesterday in the grand court, between the five teams of attorneysin the trial of Keith Orrett, Brian Borden, Bjorn Ebanks and Keith Montaque, the court was also informed that one of the seven members of the jury selected from the streets on Tuesday afternoon could not serve owing to illness. The judge was forced yet again to send his clerk back to the streets to find another talesman. Having secured another member of the jury the court finally arraigned the four men on the charges of possessing unlicensed firearms at an address in West Bay to which they all pleaded not guilty.

Immediately following their pleas and directions to the new jury, from Justice Charles Quin, the five women and two men were dismissed and asked to return on Tuesday 23 February while the attorneys moved into further closed door sessions regarding legal arguments on evidence.

The four men are all currently in custody and have been for almost two years following their arrest in April 2008. According to the particulars of the offence two unlicensed 12 gage shotguns were found by police at a home in Town Hall Court in West Bay while the four men were in the residence at the time. The trial has been postponed and delayed on several occasions as a result of problems securing the services of various experts.