By TRIBUNE STAFF REPORTER

ATTORNEY Bjorn Ferguson, who is facing an accessory after the fact to bribery charge connected to a high profile police corruption probe, was elected vice president of the Bahamas Criminal Bar on Tuesday, a result that The Tribune understands unsettled some lawyers both present and absent.

Later, the outcome was declared void because enough people did not participate.

“When I checked it out, we never had enough,” former president Murio Ducille KC told The Tribune yesterday, adding there was not adequate publication of the election. “It was not representative of the number of members that we had, so we decided to have an election again.”

One lawyer who attended the meeting said that, despite this official explanation, the only reason a new vote is being held is that Mr Ferguson was chosen as vice president.

Some absent lawyers were stunned that an election had been held, saying they had received little notice of the meeting and did not expect an election to take place.

Mr Ducille said Mr Ferguson’s pending case should not be relevant.

“Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” he said. “I am not concerned.”

The Criminal Bar, a branch of the Bahamas Bar Association, advocates for criminal lawyers on issues ranging from poor court facilities to low pay for crown briefs. It is typically the first body that attorneys appeal to before escalating matters to the Bar Council.

Nathan Smith was elected president of the criminal bar during the meeting.