WESTERN BUREAU:
A BREAKDOWN in arrangements to get court documents to the lawyer representing Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore, stalled the trial in the Trelawny Circuit Court, yesterday.
The national footballer was charged with vehicular manslaughter in June, after a six-member all-female jury ruled that he was criminally responsible for the death of his former Reggae Boyz team-mate, Stephen 'Shorty' Malcolm. Malcolm died in a motor vehicle accident in January of 2001 on the Spring Hill main road, Trelawny.
Attorney George Thomas told the court that he had not received the police statements and was given the depositions just before the start of court. He said that the documents were supposed to have been delivered to him, but when he checked with the Duncans Courts Office on Tuesday they were not there.
"I am requesting an adjournment, so I can prepare my case properly," Mr. Thomas asked, Mr. Justice Lennox Campbell who traversed the matter to the next session of the Trelawny Circuit Court that commences on February 17, 2003. He then extended Whitmore's $200,000 bail and explained the situation to the jurors, before adjourning court for the day.
"What we're dealing with here is a loss of judicial time," Mr. Justice Campbell remarked. "I don't think some papers not delivered to counsel can hold up a case."
Four of nine witnesses for the prosecution were in court.
Malcolm died from head injuries on the night of January 28, 2001, hours after he played in a friendly international between Jamaica and Bulgaria. The father of two boys was travelling in Whitmore's 1993 Toyota Mark II car, along with Whitmore and Charles Ewan, when the vehicle hit an embankment and overturned.
Following the incident, there was a dispute over who was driving the vehicle. The decision to charge the 29-year-old midfielder came on June 26 at the end of the Coroner's inquest at the Falmouth Courthouse. Ten persons gave depositions at the inquest.
