Launtia Cuffe, STAR Writer
Jason Lawrence was yesterday offered bail when he appeared in the St Elizabeth Circuit Court. The case in which he has a murder conviction is to be retried.
Lawrence was convicted of murder in October 2005; however, after making an appeal to the Court of Appeal and the Privy Council, the superior judiciaries ruled that there were flaws in his case and ordered a new trial take place.
The allegations are that on December 25, 2004, about 2 a.m., Lawrence and another man were seen having a dispute with a vendor, when a man intervened on the vendor's behalf.
It's reported that Lawrence said something offensive to the man, who used a machete to slap him. Lawrence allegedly retaliated by stabbing the man in the chest, causing a fatal wound.
Lawrence was taken into custody on December 28, 2004, and subsequently charged with murder.
The Privy Council ruled that Lawrence, who had been in custody from the time of his arrest in December 2004, remain in custody while he awaited his new trial, but said that an application for bail could be made.
Counsel for the Crown, assistant director of public prosecution, Sasha-Marie Smith, said that the prosecution was not opposed to bail.
Justice Georgiana Fraser offered bail in the amount of $500,000 and ordered that Lawrence report to the Black River Police Station on Mondays and Fridays between the hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. A curfew order was also imposed between the hours of 8 p.m. to 6.am., and a stop order placed at all ports of entry.
The new trial was set for March 2.
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