Management hearing in ‘Buju’ murder case rescheduled

WESTERN BUREAU:

The case management hearing in the murder case against Constable Andrew Wilson, who is charged with the May shooting death of Latoya ‘Buju’ Bulgin, has been rescheduled to December 4.

The hearing was scheduled to begin on Friday morning following Wilson’s previous appearance in the St James Circuit Court on July 13.

However, presiding High Court Justice Andrea Pettigrew-Collins rescheduled the hearing after the court was told that King’s Counsel Peter Champagnie and attorney-at-law Michael Hemmings, who both represent Wilson, were absent from court, but had sent the December 4 date for consideration.

It was also disclosed that the post-mortem report has still not been submitted.

Pettigrew-Collins subsequently set December 4 as the new date, and extended Wilson’s bail until that time.

Bulgin was shot dead on May 17 while participating in a protest which was organised to highlight the death of her 17-year-old cousin, who had been killed a week earlier in an incident that also involved the police.

VIDEO FOOTAGE

Widely circulated footage of the incident showed a policeman firing a gun into the vehicle in which Bulgin was seated behind the steering wheel.

The incident sparked public outrage and protests by Granville residents.

On May 29, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions ruled that Wilson should be charged in relation to the incident. He was arrested and charged on June 3, and he made his first appearance before the St James Parish Court later that same day, where attorney Hemmings argued that his client had acted in self-defence.

During Wilson’s last appearance before the parish court on July 10, a nolle prosequi was submitted in relation to the matter, ending the case at the parish court level and immediately transferring it to the circuit court through a voluntary bill of indictment.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com