Attorneys for double murder accused Jonathan Lehrer have gone to court seeking to have him bailed on charges of the incident on December 4, 2023, in Bois Cotlette, Soufriere, where Lehrer is accused of trafficking a Mac 11-9MM threaded barrel, Glock magazines, and numerous rounds of 9MM ammunition.
Lehrer is represented by Lennox Lawrence, Wayne Norde, and Jodi Luke and led by Barbadian Kings Counsel (KC) Andrew Pilgrim. The State’s case is under the guidance of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Sherma Dalrymple, Marie-Louise Pierre Louis, Ellisianne Wilkins, and led by KC Thomas Astaphan.
Dalrymple told the court that the State is “opposing bail.”
In his submissions, Lawrence told the court that his client was “arrested on December 1, 2023, on the double murder charges and has been in custody to date.”
“He was granted bail on November 26, 2024 by the High Court on the two murder charges and on January 15, 2025, after he was granted bail the State filed the gun trafficking charges,” he said.
He argued that if both charges were filed together, “most likely, he would be out on bail since the offense is bailable.”
“Our application is that there is just cause for granting bail, because, critically, the accused was in custody at the time they claim he committed the offense,” Lawrence posited to the court.
He stated that they have not received “disclosure” and don’t know the “strength of the evidence of the prosecution.”
“We are urging the court to find that if there was strong evidence against the accused, they would have filed long ago and the late filing is clearly to keep him in custody after he was granted bail by the High Court,” Lawrence stated.
Lawrence urged the court, “not to accept any of the State’s arguments in the matter.”
“We are saying that there is sufficient reason to grant him bail.”
In addressing the court, Norde stated that they are “so hopefully that bail will be granted he would like to propose a bail sum of $20,000.00.”
But in her rebuttal, DPP Dalrymple referred the court to Section 6 (1) (a) (i) of the Bail Act, “fail to surrender to custody” telling the court that he is a United States citizen by birth and the “inference can be drawn that he may surrender to custody if granted bail and allowed to travel.”
“The offense is grave and carries a penalty of $700,000.00 or 25 years in jail or both and it was also not in the public’s interest to so grant bail,” she said.
She also stated that a trial date of April 22, 2025, has been set, and granted bail will hinder the commencement of the trial since the accused “will not surrender to custody.
After hearing arguments, senior Magistrate Michael Laudat reserved his decision for March 12, 2025.