The trial for the 9 men accused of facilitating the landing of a drug plane in Lemonal in January of 2021, came to a halt this morning after one of the attorneys representing three of the men in the case walked out of court.
The nine accused, two of which are police officers, appeared in court this morning before the sitting magistrate and the DPP who called two witnesses to the stand. 31 year old Tyrell Talbert, former police officer, 51 year old Gareth Banner, 52 year old Dwight Andrews and former BDF soldier 35 year old Edward Roland were represented by Attorney Leeroy Banner. 57 year old Fitzgerald Clare and 36 year old Byron Lee Clare were represented by Norman Rodriguez. 27 year old Marlon Reyes, 26 year old Rennan Reneau and 27 year old Dinsdale Thompson were represented by Senior Counsel Hubert Elrington. All nine men are accused of possession of control drugs with intent to supply 67.9 KILOS of cocaine, and breach of curfew. The trial began at 9:47 this morning and by 3:30 this afternoon, Ellington walked out on his clients after announcing in court his withdrawal from the case despite the magistrate's response that his action was premature. Counsel for the other accused Norman Rodriguez explained the odd occurrence:
Norman Rodriquez, Attorney-at-Law
"We have three counsels, one senior counsel and two other counsels on this matter representing the nine men and one counsel believe that the evidence being led at this time had nothing to do with the charges for which the men are before the court. As a result he did what he has a right to do, to withdraw. When we came back we requested an adjournment to see if we could resolve this, because three men who is left without representation has a right to representation and the chief senior magistrate allowed that opportunity and there was no objection from madam DPP herself. So we come back on Monday 28th to continue with this matter."
The court session was adjourned with the view that the accused must be given time to seek other legal representation. The case is set to resume on Monday August 28th.
