Judge to recuse herself from Al Miller trial

The long awaited trial of Reverend Al Miller, head of Fellowship Tabernacle, hit a major bump on Tuesday after defence attorneys requested that the presiding Magistrate recuse herself from the case.

Reverend Miller is accused of perverting the course of justice and harbouring a fugitive after former Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher "Dudus" Coke was found in his company in June.

The attorneys for the embattled preacher made it clear in court on Tuesday that they will be mounting a number of challenges all the way to the High Court to free Reverend Miller of the charges.

During submissions before Senior Magistrate Georgiana Fraser, lead attorney Wentworth Charles presented a road map of the challenges ahead.

He argued that Reverend Miller cannot be accused of perverting the course of justice when the Authority to Proceed or the document submitted by the United States government for Mr. Coke's extradition, which was signed by Justice Minister Dorothy Lightbourne, was in doubt.

He argued that the warrant for Mr. Coke's arrest was questionable therefore; the Reverend cannot be accused of breaking the law.

"The authority to proceed was sent through the DPP to the courts office here and the magistrate signed a warrant based on the authority to proceed. We are taking all the legal points surrounding both he issue of the warrant which firms the subject of the allegation that our client attempted to pervert the course of justice, so if there is no valid warrant, then there could be no course to allege that it was perverted," Mr. Charles said.

Presiding Magistrate signed "Dudus" arrest warrant

The attorney also dropped a major bombshell when he requested that the Senior Magistrate Fraser recuse herself from the case.

He cited the fact that it was Mrs. Fraser who signed the warrant for Mr. Coke's arrest but was careful not to accuse the Magistrate of any bias.

Senior Magistrate Fraser gave Mr. Charles until February 16 to submit a solid argument to convince her to remove herself from the case.

Reverend Miller was charged last year following allegations that he tried to elude the police when they attempted to intercept his Toyota Rav4 motor vehicle with the fugitive in St. Catherine.

Following a reported high speed chase, the vehicle with Mr. Coke aboard was intercepted along the Mandela Highway.

Reverend Miller reportedly told the police that he was honouring the wishes of Mr. Coke, who wanted to surrender to officials at the United States embassy.