Less than a month after having to abort the trial of Linton Eastman, Clifton Gibson and Stancy Rodney for the murder of Rubis accountant Jason Cort, Justice Brassington Reynolds had to abort new proceedings yesterday.
The court noted that this time a relative of the deceased who had attended one of the hearings had “innocently” gone into court and waved to the forewoman, whom she knows. This was seen by one of the accused and it was brought to the attention of the judge and an inquiry was conducted.
In the interest of justice, which the court noted must not only be done but equally seen to be done, the presiding judge aborted the trial.
It was not said when the case is likely to be called again.
About three weeks ago, on January 15th, the trial was aborted, owing to a conversation overheard by a witness in the matter.
It was reported to Justice Reynolds that a witness had overheard a conversation at the courthouse the day before.
This was reported to the judge and an inquiry was conducted.
The specifics of the conversation were not related in court but the judge at that time informed that given the unfortunate development regarding the likelihood of bias, which could prejudice the outcome of the proceedings, the interest of justice demanded that the trial be aborted.
The allegation against the jointly-charged trio is that they murdered Cort on June 17th, 2015 at his Meadow Brook Gardens home.
