Wed | Dec 11, 2024

Closing arguments in Causewell murder trial start Monday

Published:Tuesday | August 30, 2016 | 12:00 AMChristopher Serju

The defence will on Monday begin closing arguments in the murder trial of businessman Stephen Causewell, after the case which was set to resume this past Tuesday was again postponed.

"The ruling is that the matter will continue," Justice Carol Lawrence Beswick told the court.

She, however, acceded to a request from defence lead counsel Jacqueline Samuels Brown for a postponement, in order to facilitate her absence on official business.

This means the seven-member jury will continue hearing the case when the trial resumes.

Lawrence Beswick had on Monday asked that the Crown address a particular aspect of its case against Causewell.

On July 27, the judge had dismissed a no-case submission made by Samuels Brown.

She ruled then that Causewell had a case to answer in relation to the death of his ex-girlfriend, Nardia Mitchell, at her Oaklands apartment in St Andrew on July 16, 2008.

On Tuesday, Samuels-Brown told the court the defence team did not intend to call any more witnesses or present any more evidence in the case which has dragged on for eight years.

The prosecution has presented evidence that Mitchell was received 19 injuries during a fight, allegedly with Causewell.

However, Samuels-Brown, in making a no-case submission, argued that there was no evidence linking her client to the incident in which his ex-girlfriend was killed.