The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A JUDGE denied bail yesterday to a man awaiting trial for double attempted murder.

Justice Bernard Turner’s ruling on 36-year-old Omar Chisholm’s application came a week after hearing submissions from Crown and defence counsel.

Though the proceedings were not held in open court, The Tribune understands the application was rejected after the judge considered Chisholm’s recent convictions for drug possession and the likelihood that he might reoffend if released from custody.

Chisholm’s lawyer, Murrio Ducille, had brought the application on the basis that he has not been tried within the three-year statute of limitations since his initial arraignment in January 2012 in Magistrate’s Court.

Chisholm was initially to stand trial in the Supreme Court in April, charged with the attempted murders of Kevin Johnson and Franky Pierre on October 26, 2011.

The two men were chased and shot by a man near the Esso service station on East Bay Street.

Prosecutors allege Chisholm was the gunman.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the two charges when formally arraigned in the Supreme Court in September 2012. His April 7, 2014 trial did not proceed. His case was then adjourned to September 14, 2015.

Chisholm’s bail application, The Tribune has learned, is motivated by him wanting to spend the holidays with his family.