Christopher Thomas, Gleaner Writer

Western Bureau:

The presiding magistrate in the murder case of Trinidadian schoolteacher Michelle Coudray-Greaves has ordered the prosecution to seek help from the director of public prosecutions (DPP) to secure an outstanding medical report needed in the case.

Resident Magistrate Sandria Wong-Small made the order when the case was mentioned in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday. The sole accused in the case, 45-year-old taxi-operator Ivan Taylor, was remanded until the next trial date, which is set for February 25.

Taylor, who is of a Whithorn district address in Westmoreland, was charged with Coudray-Greaves' murder on June 30 last year after the teacher's burnt remains were found in a cane field in Montego Bay on June 11, 2012.

When the case was mentioned yesterday, the court was told that the dental report was still outstanding as the orthodontic expert had not come back to Jamaica on January 25, as was expected when the case was last mentioned on January 8.

Wong-Small subsequently ordered the prosecution to approach the DPP to see what means the court could use to get the report from the doctor.

"I cannot continue to have Mr Taylor coming back and forth to court and there is no progress being made," Wong-Small said.

Coudray-Greaves, the daughter of Trinidad and Tobago's Gender Affairs Minister Marlene Coudray, went missing on June 1, 2012, two days after returning to Jamaica from vacation in Trinidad. Her charred remains were found 10 days later in a burnt-out cane field.

The case has been dogged with problems from the outset as shortly after the trial started, Stacey-Ann Young, Taylor's lawyer, revealed that her client had been removed from his cell and questioned by police on two separate dates without her knowledge.

Following a similar complaint at another hearing, the magistrate threatened to seek the intervention of the commissioner of police to prevent what she said was a breach of the accused man's rights. Under Jamaican law, it is the right of an accused person to have legal representation while being questioned.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com