Tashieka Mair, Gleaner Writer'
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE ABSENCE of one of the attorneys in the case against 20-year-old Raine Russell, who is charged with the death of Gleaner Company truck driver, 63-year-old Cedric Evangelist, has stalled the start of the preliminary enquiry that was set to begin in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday.
Defence counsel George Thomas informed the court that he did not want to begin hearing evidence without his co-council, K. Churchill Neita, Q.C., present.
Russell, who is charged with manslaughter, and the two witnesses along with the investigating officer, were told to return to court on September 14 for the court to begin hearing evidence.
His $860,000 bail was extended and a subpoena ordered for a third witness, who identified the deceased man's body, as he was not present yesterday.
It is alleged that on May 22 last year, the deceased was on his way to Montego Bay from Kingston when, on reaching the Coral Gardens Police Station, the accused, Russell, who was travelling in his Mitsubishi Pajero in the opposite direction, swerved and collided with the driver's side of the truck.
The truck overturned, killing Mr. Evangelist on the spot.
Russell, who was seriously injured in the accident, was initially admitted to the MoBay Hope Medical facility but was subsequently transferred to an overseas hospital. He was arrested on his return to the island.
Russel is the son of former national tennis champion Richard Russell and the brother of Jamaica's current top-seeded tennis player Ryan Russell.
