Woman charged with husband's attempted murder expected to be in court Friday

Senior Parish Judge Lori-Anne Cole-Montaque has made an order for Vanacia Johnson-Lee, who is charged with attempted murder of her husband, to be brought before the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Friday, August 5.   

Her instructions come on the heels of a habeus corpus application made by attorney Tom Tavares-Finson, on Thursday, asking for the release of his client.   

In his application, Taveres-Finson questioned when his client would be placed before the court to answer the charges, after being charged with the offence on August 1.  

Johnson-Lee, 33, allegedly used her BMW motor car to hit her husband on Constant Spring Road, St Andrew in 2021.  The businesswoman was taken into custody on July 29.   

Based on the utterances made by Johnson-Lee’s lawyer, the senior jurist asked when the accused woman would face the court.   

“So, it was Monday [August 1] that the formal charges were laid and by the end of the week, the case file should be completed,” a senior officer with knowledge of the matter informed the court.   

“But I need a court date. I need a time from the officer when he plans to [bring the file],” the senior judge pressed.  

The senior cop assured the court that the file would be submitted to the court’s registry by the end of the day on Thursday and the matter would be mentioned in court thereafter.  

However, his assurances were not adequate for the judge.  

“I think tomorrow [August 5] is a reasonable time, if it is that only the preliminary report is being completed, the statements are there. You see, one has to bear in mind what counsel said that this is a defendant that is not well…that is not to say that when she comes the court will offer bail, but the court must be seen to have compassion, not only the court but the police,” judge Cole-Montaque instructed.   

In the meantime, Senior Superintendent of Police Aaron Flecther said charges are to be laid against the complainant.  

“I am aware of the investigations, and I am sure that based on where the investigations are, it is likely that it will be soon,” Fletcher told THE STAR.

We want to hear from you! Email us at star@gleanerjm.com and follow @thejamaicastar on Instagram and on Twitter @JamaicaStar and on Facebook: @TheJamaicaStar, or on Whatsapp @ 876-550-2506.