By LAMECH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
ljohnson@tribunemedia.net
A FORMER police officer will have to wait an additional three months before his child pornography trial begins in Magistrates Court.
Edmund Lewis Jr appeared before Magistrate Andrew Forbes yesterday for the expected start of his trial into allegations that he produced child pornography videos between July 2014 and January 21, 2015.
Magistrate Forbes told attorney Ryszard Humes that he was aware of Lewis’ lead counsel Wayne Munroe, QC, asking for the matter to be stood down until the afternoon session because of a conflicting matter before the Court of Appeal.
However, Crown prosecutor David Cash told the magistrate that the prosecution was not in a position to proceed in any event as the prosecutor handling the case was in an ongoing murder trial before the Supreme Court, which took precedence.
When asked by the magistrate, Mr Cash said he was not sure if any witnesses had been ordered to appear for the proceedings. When the names of five witnesses were called, none answered.
The matter has been adjourned to February 9, 2016.
The former police constable was first arraigned on January 23 and denied bail. He was dismissed from the Royal Bahamas Police Force shortly after charges were filed against him.
He elected to be tried in the Magistrate’s Court and was granted $5,000 bail days after being re-arraigned due to an “inadvertent error” at his first court appearance, when he should have been given the option to be tried in either the Magistrates Court or Supreme Court and enter a plea to the charges.
The charges carry a three-year prison term on conviction.
Darell Taylor is prosecuting the case.
Commenting has been disabled for this item.