Potential jurors in the trial of McKeeva Bush were quizzed Wednesday on their political affiliations and views on gambling in an effort to assemble an impartial jury to try the former premier.
The jury pool were asked to fill out written questionnaires on various issues, including whether they had contributed any letter or comment through the media in recent press coverage on the use of government credit cards.
Opposition leader Mr. Bush is facing a string of corruption charges connected to claims that while he was leader of the country, he spent nearly US$50,000 at hotels and casinos in the U.S. and the Bahamas using his government credit card.
The first elected member for West Bay appeared in the dock on Wednesday morning, as his Legislative Assembly colleagues were meeting across the road for the September session of the assembly. His trial is expected to begin Monday morning.
Authorities took the unusual step on Wednesday of handing out written questionnaires to the entire jury pool in an effort to strike out those who were too closely aligned with or opposed to Mr. Bush. The answers were being reviewed by the judge on Wednesday afternoon with a jury expected to be finalized on Thursday.
Every seat was taken in the court room at 10:30 a.m. as Justice Michael Mettyear gave directions to around 100 potential jurors.
“The defendant is a man whose name will be known to most, if not all of you. He has a long history of holding public office on this island and he was the first person to become premier after the Constitution was introduced,” Justice Mettyear said.
“None of that entitles him to special treatment, nor on the other hand, does it mean that he should be dealt with any less fairly than anyone else.”
The jurors were asked to fill in a five-page sheet containing 11 questions, which Justice Mettyear said were designed to ensure that there would be a fair trial.
The opening questions asked, “Do you hold such strong views, for political or other reasons, for or against the defendant that it would prevent you from trying him fairly on the basis of the evidence presented in court?”
A second question suggested that the trial would include evidence relating to gambling “in particular on slot machines” and asked potential jurors if they had such strong views about gambling that they would be unable to try the defendant fairly.
The next nine questions, said Justice Mettyear, were designed to eradicate the appearance of bias.
Potential jurors were asked if they or close relatives had been employed in government departments, including the Ministry of Tourism and the Auditor General’s office as well as the police and the Deputy Governor’s Office, or political parties, including Mr. Bush’s United Democratic Party, the People’s Progressive Movement and the Coalition for Cayman. The jury pool was also quizzed on whether they had spoken out publicly on the issue of government credit card use.
“Have you contributed by way of letter or comment [in writing or verbally] to recent press/media/on-line coverage on the issue of the use of government credit cards?”
Jurors were also asked if they or any family members were employed by Rooster Radio, Cayman News Service or the Cayman Compass. Justice Mettyear said the case, which is expected to last four weeks, would be detailed but not particularly complicated.
He said it didn’t matter whether jurors thought Mr. Bush was a good or bad premier, stating that the questions were designed to ensure they could be objective.
“If you have particular views so adverse to Mr. Bush that you would find it impossible to come to a verdict solely on the evidence, then obviously it would be inappropriate for you to be a juror. The same would be true if you hold political views so favorable to him,” he said.
He added that the questions were also designed to ensure there was no appearance of bias.
“It is important not only that justice is done, but that it seems to be done. Suppose, for example, that you yourself have no views one way or the other about Mr. Bush and you have never had any dealings with him but your sister works in his private office. You might well say, ‘I can make up my own mind, I can deal with this case fairly,’ but an outsider looking in might say, “that can’t be right,’” he explained.
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