Upheaval in Supreme Court – are Mason’s Attorneys Still on the Murder Case?

The trial of accused murderer William ‘Danny’ Mason and his alleged accomplices took a strange twist this morning when the courtroom of Justice Antoinette Moore was unexpectedly cleared.  The media, as well as others in attendance, was asked to leave the session and shortly thereafter, lead counsel Herbert Panton, who has been representing Mason and four other men, was seen making his way out of the courtroom.  It is our understanding that concerns have arisen in respect of the progress of the hearing under Panton’s leadership as defense attorney.  Up until March twentieth, there have been a total of seventeen witnesses who have taken the stand to testify in the matter and proceedings are well underway.  News Five has been informed that Panton’s removal from the case at this juncture may very well jeopardize its progress.  On March twelfth, Co-counsel Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley withdrew himself from the case and was subsequently replaced by attorney Rachel Montejo, in an auxiliary capacity.  It is unclear how the matter will proceed going forward, however, what we do know is that the trial will resume on Friday morning at nine o’clock.  It has been one week and two days since the trial commenced.  Mason, Terrence Fernandez, Ashton Vanegas, Keiron Fernandez and Ernest Castillo are jointly charged for the decapitation of Pastor Llewellyn Lucas in mid-July 2016.  Since their detention that weekend, attorney Herbert Panton has represented the accused men. When asked about today’s developments, D.P.P. Cheryl Lynn Vidal said she “was not at liberty to discuss what happened this morning and as far as I understand it, the court was deliberately cleared so there would not have been any coverage of whatever may have taken place this morning.”