The drama surrounding the February conviction, by a Miami jury, of disgraced former premier of the British Virgin Islands ANDREW FAHIE, just intensified. The US District Judge who presided over the jury trial has set post-conviction arguments for march 7, after two jurors, after the verdict was handed down and the case essentially closed, complained that on at least one of the four counts Fahie was convicted of was not a unanimous verdict.
The jurors were polled,meaning each asked in turn if this was indeed their verdict, after the verdict was read, and nobody complained during the trial. Jury verdicts are sacrosanct under American jurisprudence, and only very rarely can they be set aside, other than for juror fraud or tampering. it appears to be a case of First Impression, according to many legal observers.
The evidence against the former Premier was, frankly, overwhelming, on all counts, so we will be watching for the Court's decision. The case shook the BVI to its core, exposing the pervasive corruption amongst leaders of the East Caribbean island nations, especially regarding cooperation with narcotics traffickers shipping drugs to the Continental United States.
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