Hunt for misplaced file ends in case adjournment

However the case ended with an adjournment as the main witness complained of feeling unwell.

Simba Felix of Bourg Mulatresse, San Juan was charged earlier this year with chopping his neighbor and appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Maria Busby Earle- Caddle to answer the charges. He was not called upon to enter a plea as the charge was laid indictably.

Court officers requested additional time to locate the file and explained they had been unable to find it since the last hearing in May.

However Felix’s attorney, Shane Patience argued the misplacement of the file is no excuse and the matter should either be dealt with during the requisite time or dismissed.

“Your worship it has been three months since the court requested the file and from then to now the situation has not changed,” Patience said. “This is no excuse. Where is the file?” E a r l e - C a d d l e quizzed the officers on the missing file and asked what has been done to locate the documents since the last hearing.

“The witness is here today. I gave you all three months to locate the file. What did he (the complainant PC Ballo) do between May 23 and now to ensure that the file was brought to the court?” Earle-Caddle.

Ballo said he checked for the documents earlier yesterday morning but did not find it. Earle- Caddle stood down the matter until 1 pm after which she was told the file was found but the main witness was unwell.

The matter has been adjourned until September 21.