Stern warning from Justice Bruce-Lyle

08.June.07

The June 5th assizes started off with stern words from Justice Fredrick Bruce- Lyle: “We’re about to embark on a very serious two months,” he said, looking directly at the jury. Three jurors were absent and the judge said that this showed indiscipline and issued bench warrants for the offenders.{{more}} He asked that the jurors take their civic duty seriously or our judicial system would suffer.

The jury was excused until the next day so that the court could hear the pleas of the accused. There are over 100 cases to be heard in these assizes and many of them deal with violent crimes. The proceedings went on smoothly with most of the accused present to enter their pleas. The Judge asked that counsel on both sides be more accommodating to each other because there is a huge backlog of cases to be cleared. “Let us all try to lift our judicial system from the depth in which it is sinking” he commented to the lawyers. Continuing, “We are in the 20th century but are still using 19th century measures”. During a break there was a sharp outburst between two of the lawyers present and upon resumption of the proceedings, the judge stated “Let us conduct these assizes with respect for each other and conduct ourselves in a calm manner.”(VM)