After several delays, the first trial of the May Assizes started this week with the matter of John Bally, who faces a charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 13.
Mr. Bally, 51, of Carrot Bay, was charged in 2010, but his case has been bouncing around the court system since then.
The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court of Appeal overturned a 2011 ruling in January on the grounds that the judge improperly questioned the defendant during his trial. But the court neither ordered a retrial nor called for an acquittal, instead leaving the matter to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to decide if it would pursue a retrial.
Mr. Bally remained in custody until his lawyer, Patrick Thompson, filed for a writ of habeas corpus after his trial did not restart in the February Assizes.
When the May assizes opened this month, Mr. Thompson asked High Court Justice Vicki-Ann Ellis for his client not to be the first person tried in this round of cases because he wanted to take the case to the Privy Council to see if the ECSCA erred in leaving the matter to the DPP. That request, however, was not granted.
Because the trial involves alleged sexual crimes against a minor, it is being held in camera, and it is closed to the public and the media.