The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

THE trial of a former police constable accused of producing child pornography did not begin yesterday due to the absence of a stenographer and conflicting schedules for witnesses in the case.

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.

However, Magistrate Forbes told attorneys Wayne Munroe, QC, and Tonique Lewis that the stenographer that had been requested had yet to arrive.

The magistrate was also advised by Crown prosecutor Darell Taylor that her witnesses, both police officers, were still in Supreme Court giving evidence in ongoing trials.

Both parties agreed that Monday, February 15, at 1pm would be a convenient date and time for an adjournment.

The former police constable was first arraigned on January 23, 2015 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 Magistrate’s Court or Supreme Court and enter a plea to the charges.

The charges carry a three-year prison term on conviction.