By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A SUPREME Court judge on Friday expressed frustration that the sole witness in a murder case has been missing for nearly five months, questioning how the trial can proceed without them.

Justice Dale Fitzpatrick said it was the fifth time he raised concerns about the absent witness in the case of Jerron Woodside, who is accused of killing Larez Johnson on November 4, 2022.

The Director of Public Prosecutions had been scheduled to present an application on August 29, but that deadline was missed and the application withdrawn.

“I’m being asked for a fifth coming for more time,” Justice Fitzpatrick told the prosecutor. “You don’t have the witness. We don’t have the witness. We’ve had May, June, July, August, and now we’re at this four plus months into five months to find a witness.”

Although the prosecutor asked the court to “bear with us”, the judge stressed that “there’s no ducks in a row” and the deadline had already passed.

He said: “I want to do the cases, because in fairness, that’s why we’re here, right? Do the case. That’s fair to the accuse, that’s fair to the prosecution, that’s fair to everybody, every so called stakeholder, but in this case, there is no case to bring. So that’s the point that doesn’t seem to be crystallised here and I don’t know why.”

After discussions with the defence, Justice Fitzpatrick set the trial for Monday, noting that a jury pool will be available.