Beheading trial to resume today
Published:Thursday | November 14, 2019 | 12:30 AM
The trial of two men charged with murder arising from the beheading of two St Catherine women is set to resume today after prosecutors revealed that there would be no need to go ahead with a hearing, called a voir dire, to determine whether the statement of a witness should be admitted into evidence.
The trial has been stalled since Monday.
Prosecutors requested the voir dire after the attorneys for Sanja Ducally and Kemar Riley objected to the witness statement being admitted into evidence.
But lead prosecutor Paula Llewellyn revealed late yesterday that her office had indicated to the court that there would be no need to proceed with the voir dire.
“The witness is now here and will be giving evidence,” Llewellyn, the director of public prosecutions, told The Gleaner.
Three other men, Rushane Goldson, Fabian Smith, and Adrian Campbell, pleaded guilty to non-capital murder for their roles in the killings of Charmaine Cover-Rattray, 40, and her 18-year-old daughter, Joeith Lynch.
Prosecutors say the women were chopped and shot before they were decapitated.