Keith Clarke
By Racquel Porter
High Court Judge Justice Dale Palmer is to rule whether the Keith Clarke trial, which is set for today, will proceed, following an application by defence attorneys to stay the hearing.
On April 3, Justice Palmer ruled that the three soldiers charged with the murder of Mr. Clarke - Lance Corporals Greg Tingling and Odel Buckley, as well as private Arnold Henry - are to stand trial.
Their legal team had indicated their intention to appeal the judge's ruling.
When the matter was called up in the Home Circuit Court on Monday morning, attorney Valrie Neita Robertson informed the court that the defence had filed its appeal.
But Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn responded that there is no order from the Court of Appeal to stay the trial and that the judge should reaffirm that the trial is to proceed.
The case has been ongoing since 2012 when Ms. Llewellyn ruled that the three soldiers be charged for killing Mr. Clarke.
The businessman was shot 21 times inside his Kirkland Close home in St. Andrew on March 27, 2010, during a police-military operation to apprehend then-fugitive drug lord Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.
The murder trial was set to begin in 2018 when lawyers for the Jamaica Defence Force surprised prosecutors with immunity certificates that shielded the soldiers from prosecution for their actions during the operation.
The certificates were signed in February 2016 by Peter Bunting, who was at that time the Minister of National Security.
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