Deputy Governor Franz Manderson and Tourism Ministry Chief Officer Stran Bodden are among more than a dozen witnesses who are expected to give evidence on behalf of the prosecution in the upcoming assault trial of West Bay West MP McKeeva Bush.
Veteran politician Bush, 69, is due to stand trial on Monday, 19 Feb., on two charges of indecent assault and two counts of common assault – all of which he denies.
The charges stem from an incident on 13 Sept. 2022 during a regional tourism conference which was hosted by the government at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman.
On Monday, 12 Feb., a seven-member jury, along with four alternates, was selected after a three-hour process which saw them answering a series of questions on whether any of the jurors or their family knew Bush or the witnesses and, if they did, the extent of that relationship.
Jurors were also questioned on whether they or their family members had been employed by The Ritz-Carlton, the RCIPS or the Governor’s Office within the past 12 months.
Impartial verdict
Additional questions concerned whether they were comfortable to proceed with the case given that two of the charges are allegations of indecent assault.
Finally, jurors were asked what they had learned about the case through the media and whether they believed they would be able to return a true and impartial verdict.
“You are the judges of the fact, and I am the judge of the law,” said Justice Stanley John, a visiting judge who was brought to Cayman to preside over the trial.
John, who hails from Trinidad and Tobago, has had a lengthy legal career and currently serves as a justice on the Court of Appeal in Turks and Caicos.
“This defendant is a public figure which is no secret,” said John. “He is to be treated no different than the ordinary defendant; that is to say, there are no special privileges that are to be afforded to him.”
Bush has been released on bail and returns to court on Monday.
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