Traffic death trial halted, jury dissolved

A trial in the Supreme Court was halted today after the prosecution convinced the judge that the defendant might not get a fair trial. In February, forty-four year old Valentine Ferguson pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by careless conduct. But when he appeared in court on March second for sentencing, his lawyer made statements that Justice Adolph Lucas felt were an indication of Ferguson’s innocence and the judge instead entered a not guilty plea and set a trial date for the original manslaughter charges.

However, when his case came up today, Crown Counsel in the Director of Public Prosecutions Office, Audrey Matura, pointed out that when Ferguson pleaded guilty last month, it was in the presence of the entire jury pool … and it is from that same group of people that nine new jurors were selected. Matura maintains that this could prejudice the jury against Ferguson and prevent him from receiving a fair trial. Justice Lucas agreed, disbanded the jury, and traversed the case to the June session of the Supreme Court.

The charges against Ferguson are as a result of a traffic accident on June nineteenth 2004. On that day, Ferguson was driving his vehicle near mile eight on the Northern Highway when he collided into a car travelling in the opposite direction. His common-law wife and a passenger in the other vehicle were killed in the crash.