The
man who says that he is prepared to take a bullet for his boss,
Prime Minister Keith Mitchell appeared in court for the first
time on Tuesday for shooting a civilian over a lover¹s quarrel.
It was a heated exchange in court Tuesday as one of the key Security
Officers attached to Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell made his
first court appearance before Chief Magistrate Patricia Mark.
Frederick "Balla" Noel was charged last month in connection
with the shooting of a San Souci, St George, resident on September
02, 2005, at the Bocas in St George¹s. The victim was shot
in the hand over a lover¹s quarrel.
"Balla" was accompanied by his attorney-at-Law, Venescia
Francis-Banfield who clashed verbally with Director of Public
Prosecutions (DPP), Christopher Nelson. The very heated exchange
was sparked off by a request made by Francis Banfield for full
disclosure by the prosecution of all documents pertaining to her
client and the incident.
Court sources told this newspaper that Nelson was incensed by
a statement made by the female lawyer which suggested that the
DPP might become a party to the case and that legal action could
be taken against him.
According to a well-placed source, the normally cool Nelson lashed
out at his female colleague and reminded her that she is a rookie
lawyer in the business. He spoke of Nelson telling Francis-Banfield
who was admitted to the local bar a few weeks ago that she could
proceed to take legal action against him on behalf of "Balla"
if she so wished.
"Balla" on the instructions of Government¹s Legal
Advisor, Hugh Wildman of Jamaica had earlier approached defense
lawyer Derek Sylvester to question the status of Nelson as DPP
and advice the police to institute criminal charges against him.
Sylvester was reluctant to proceed against Nelson and Francis-Banfield
was then retained to represent Balla. The Keith Mitchell-led government
is known to be opposed to Nelson continuing to perform the role
of the island¹s DPP.
During his presentation to the 2006 Budget Debate, the Grenadian
leader branded Nelson as "as friend" of the main opposition
National Democratic Congress (NDC). "Balla", a resident
of Telescope, St Andrew¹s, was arrested and charged on February
10 for the offence of Causing Grievous Harm.
The matter has been adjourned until April 7.
