Defendant in Shineka Gray murder case loses lawyer
Published:Tuesday | March 26, 2019 | 12:00 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
A lawyer for Gregory Roberts, one of the two men charged with the 2017 murder of St James schoolgirl Shineka Gray, will no longer be appearing as his attorney.
Attorney-at-law Shelly-Ann Hyman, who has been representing Roberts, told presiding High Court Justice Martin Gayle yesterday that she would no longer be representing the defendant as certain obligations had not been met.
“I have spoken with counsel to indicate certain things, and I am no longer in a position to represent Mr Roberts as we seem unable to meet on a mutual line,” Hyman told Justice Gayle as the case continued in the St James Parish Court.
“Can you afford a lawyer?” Gayle asked Roberts moments later.
“Yes, I have Mr Chumu Parris,” Roberts replied, referring to the other lawyer who is representing him.
“Have you spoken to Mr Parris?” Gayle asked aloud.
“He is always here,” Roberts answered.
The case was subsequently set for mention on March 28 following brief discussions between the prosecution and Parris, who appeared in court sometime after Roberts’ declaration.
Roberts is charged with murder, alongside Mario Morrison, in relation to the death of 15-year-old Shineka Gray, who was a grade 10 student at Green Pond High School in St James.
Gray’s body was found with multiple stab wounds in bushes in Irwin, St James, on February 1, 2017, three days after she was reported missing. She was last seen alive in Montego Bay on her way home from the funeral of a schoolmate.
Roberts and Morrison were originally to stand trial in the St James Circuit Court on November 19, 2018, but the case was put off because of a lack of jurors. At that time, Roberts made an application through his lawyer for the trial to be held outside of St James, citing concerns for his safety, but that application was denied.