Case file ready for cabbie charged for five deaths
Published:Tuesday | November 12, 2024 | 12:09 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Defence lawyers representing 47-year-old taxi operator Delroy Rodney, who is facing counts of causing death by dangerous driving, have requested additional time to review his completed case file.
Monday’s plea and case management hearing before High Court Judge Justice Courtney Daye in the Westmoreland Circuit Court did not happen as Rodney’s legal team requested an adjournment until Thursday.
“I now have all the documents, and I need to come to a definite position in this matter,” attorney-at-law Lambert Johnson told the court.
However, when Justice Daye quizzed Johnson about the reason for the request, he said, “I just want to review the file, My Lord, per [our] discussion, without saying much”.
Johnson’s request came after the prosecution announced that its file containing the indictment against Rodney is now complete.
The prosecution informed the court that all statements, postmortem reports, medical reports, and a statement from the Jamaica Constabulary Force Accident and Reconstruction Unit, concerning the motor truck Rodney’s vehicle collided into, are now on its file and that disclosure has been made to his lawyers.
“The reports that we received this morning, which included one from the Accident and Reconstruction Unit of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, has been disclosed to counsel,” the prosecution said.
On November 13 last year, Rodney was operating a taxi along a main road in the parish when his vehicle collided with a motor truck, killing five passengers in his vehicle.
Rodney, who was charged with five counts of causing death by dangerous driving, is out on bail on a $7-million bond.