By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

THE Coroner’s Court has been forced to suspend all upcoming inquests after its evidence marshal, Angelo Whitfield, was abruptly recalled by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) last week.

The recall has thrown the court’s calendar into disarray, leaving at least 11 scheduled inquests in limbo, including several long-delayed hearings into police-involved killings. Court officials are now urgently seeking a replacement before proceedings can resume.

The next matter, originally set to begin on July 28, was to examine the apparent suicide of 33-year-old Evan Fox, whose decomposing body was discovered in the bushes off Frank Watson Boulevard on April 29. A shotgun and Mr Fox’s truck were found nearby, and he had been reported missing by his family two days earlier.

More than 100 witness summons had already been issued for upcoming hearings when the disruption occurred. Now, families of the deceased and officers involved in fatal shootings face fresh uncertainty as to when they will finally have their day in court.

Mr Whitfield, who had served as evidence marshal since September 2023, was pulled from his post on Friday without warning, The Tribune understands.

The affected cases include a backlog dating as far back as 2019.

Gaps in activity at the Coroner’s Court have been a long-standing issue. Delays resumed after COVID-19 restrictions were put in place, with the Coroner’s Court among the last judicial arms to resume full operations after the pandemic.

While coroner’s inquests do not assign criminal liability, they play a critical role in determining the circumstances of death in cases involving police shootings, suspicious suicides, traffic accidents, and drownings. Where a jury returns a finding of homicide by manslaughter, the matter is referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions to decide if criminal charges should follow.

Since 2023, there have been 16 police-involved killings deemed justifiable by juries and eight found to be homicides by manslaughter. Once rare, such adverse findings against officers have become increasingly common. Several police officers have since been charged with manslaughter.

In May, a five-person jury ruled that the 2020 police shooting deaths of Deshoan “Spider” Smith, 25, Rashad Clarke, 28, and Jared Ford, 27, were justifiable homicides. The men were shot and killed by police near Spikenard and Cowpen Roads on June 13, 2020. Officers involved in the incident were Inspector Alcott Forbes, Corporal Kevin Greenslade Jr, and Police Constable Courtney Hall.