Former cabinet minister Donville Inniss will stand trial on money-laundering charges in a Brooklyn federal court from June 24 next year. The date was decided on Tuesday afternoon by federal District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in consultation with Sylvia Shweder, an Assistant US Attorney, and Inniss’ defence attorney, Garnett Sullivan, after the court heard that plea bargain negotiations by the two sides had “stalled” or broken down.

Inniss is accused of accepting bribes from a Barbadian insurance company and then attempting to launder US$36 000 in illegal payment using the “US financial system”. He has pleaded not guilty. In yesterday’s preliminary hearing before Judge Matsumoto in a sixth-floor federal courtroom, Shweder said efforts to negotiate a plea had “stalled” and the government was now almost ready to bring Inniss to trial.

But Sullivan said the defence had not completed its examination of all of the evidence provided by federal prosecutors during the “discovery” period and      therefore needed much more time. After looking at various possible dates to begin the trial, all sides agreed on June 24 – when the selection of a jury would begin.(Barbados Nation)…[+]