Bloomfield murder accused offered $800,000 bail
Published:Friday | May 10, 2019 | 12:32 AM
After being charged two months ago with the murder of East Portland Member of Parliament Dr Lynvale Bloomfield, 20-year-old Simeon Anthony Sutherland was yesterday offered bail in the sum of $800,000 when he appeared in the Portland Parish Court.
Senior Parish Judge Tracey Johnson, who granted bail, imposed strict reporting conditions and ordered Sutherland to reside at a particular address outside of Portland.
A curfew order was also imposed, and he is to surrender his travel documents.
In addressing the court, attorney-at-law Peter Champagnie said that arising from correspondence between his office and that of the director of public prosecutions, there will be a committal hearing to have the matter transferred to the Home Circuit Court in Kingston.
Champagnie had previously expressed concern that his client might not receive a fair trial in Portland due to the fame of the deceased.
Bloomfield was found with more than 20 stab wounds on the morning of February 2 by his helper at his Passley Gardens home in the parish.
Pieces of evidence, including two knives and a bloodied vest found along a pathway, were sent for forensic testing.
Sutherland, who was previously questioned and released, was taken back into custody after forensic evidence reportedly connected him to crime scene.
The case is set for mention next on June 12, 2019.