By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
THE lawyer of a 26-year-old American man accused of fatally stabbing his father on New Year’s Day claimed his client acted in self-defence during a bail hearing yesterday.
Mario Cash Jr appeared virtually from prison before Justice Gregory Hilton to discuss bail.
The defendant appeared tired, with an overgrown beard, as he stood before the camera.
Cash Jr allegedly stabbed his father, Mario Cash Sr, at his residence in western New Providence on New Year’s Day.
Ian Cargill, the defendant’s attorney, said he first filed his client’s bail application in the Supreme Court on January 9.
Mr Cargill told the judge his client’s father initiated the fight that led to his death. The attorney claimed that Cash Sr was standing over his son, choking him as the young man cried for help.
The prosecution called the incident “unfortunate” but called Cash Jr, an American citizen, a flight risk as they objected to him getting bail.
The prosecutor also called the defendant a risk to the public, claiming that when Cash Jr gets angry, he “blacks out” and can’t remember his actions.
Mr Cargill countered that his client did not pose a flight risk because his family is from The Bahamas. He also said his client had issues receiving medication for his sickle cell anaemia while in prison.
Earlier in January, the defendant claimed he suffered a sickle cell crisis the weekend before he appeared before acting Chief Magistrate Roberto Reckley.
Justice Hilton will rule on Cash Jr’s bail application on February 8.
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