Prosecutors Sickout Directly Affects the Function of the Judiciary
Thirty-five-year-old Jared Ranguy, accused of killing his parents and his sibling in November 2012, was scheduled to appear before the High Court today for a case management conference. But, like other matters that have been scheduled for the start of the October session, Ranguy’s case has been adjourned to a later date. That’s because five crown counsels attached to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions have been absent from work for a second consecutive day. On Monday, those attorneys called in sick, effectively bringing to a standstill the function of the judiciary where criminal matters are concerned. As it stands, the courts are already saddled with a backlog of cases, some going as far back as ten years ago. For a second day, DPP Cheryl Lyn Vidal returned to the High Court where she appeared this time before Justice Nigel Pilgrim and requested an adjournment in the matter concerning Ranguy. It was another disappointment for the relatives of Robert Vellos Senior, Karen Skeen and their daughter, Teena Skeen. They traveled from the United States to sit in on the hearing and have been persistent in their call for justice. A few months ago, on July nineteenth, Rene Skeen, a sibling of the deceased husband, sat down with News Five to express his frustration with the constant adjournments.
Rene Skeen
Rene Skeen, Sibling of Deceased (File: July 19th, 2023)
“This November makes it eleven years and after [having] been through seventeen court appearances, seven attorneys, two judges, we’re still at the same spot as of eleven years ago. However, the last case was attended about three months or so ago, my nephew, Jared, who is on remand requested a new attorney, who was then Godfrey Smith. He offered to do the case. He requested three months to prepare for the case, the case was supposed to start, I think, June twenty-eighth. We went to court and he requested three more months. So now the case is set to start on October tenth. At this point, the way the family feels is that justice delayed is justice denied. It’s not about just us, the family, the surviving family, but the three victims. It becomes a point where we feel like Jared, who allegedly committed these three murders, is manipulating the system and it’s working on his behalf. Justice for, like I said, my sister Karen, my niece Teena, and my brother-in-law Robert. Justice for them, that’s the most important thing at this point. However, what I want to see, or what we want to see, we want to see him found guilty and spend the rest of his life in jail, that’s what we want to see.”
