Lawyer Asks Judge To Step Down In FNM MP Case

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS -The judge assigned to hear the corruption trial of FNM MP Adrian Gibson has been asked to step down because her late husband once served as a PLP Cabinet Minister.

Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson, the widow of Peter Bethell, who died from cancer two decades ago, will preside over Gibson’s case if she doesn’t accept the recusal application.

Gibson is accused of enriching himself through the grant of contracts to the Water and Sewerage Corporation while serving as its Executive Chairman from 2018 to 2021.

The FNM MP and his alleged coconspirators have denied charges of bribery, fraud, and money laundering at their arraignment before Senior Justice Bernard Turner on Friday.

When Turner said the matter would be heard by Grant-Thompson, Murrio Ducille, KC, who represents MP Gibson and two other defendants said he would prefer if another judge presided over the case.

Ducille formally made the recusal application today when the parties appeared before Grant-Thompson for a trial date to be fixed.

He said was not suggesting that Grant-Thompson was unfit to hear the case, but if she presided over the matter there would be a “Perception of bias” due to the political affiliation of her deceased husband.

Grant-Thompson is set to give her decision on the recusal application on Thursday.