WESTERN BUREAU — A hiccup in the distribution of court papers to the defence prevented the manslaughter trial of national footballer Theodore Whitmore from beginning in the Trelawny Circuit Court yesterday.

When the matter came up for mention, Whitmore’s attorney, George Thomas, told the court that he was not ready to proceed with the trial because he had not received the case documents from the court’s office. On that basis, he asked that the case be adjourned as he had been unable to prepare for the trial.

“I am expecting an adjournment so I can get the papers and prepare my case properly, My Lord,” Thomas said. “It was only this morning that I got the depositions on the case.”

An obviously disappointed Justice Lennox Campbell, who is presiding over this session of the Trelawny Circuit Court, then sought to find out why the documents had not been delivered to Thomas. He said he did not understand why such a simple matter like the delivery of statements could “hold up” the start of a trial.

Crown counsel Tanya Lobban told the court that instructions had been issued for the papers to be delivered to the defence and that she had not been aware that they were not delivered.

“Had I been aware that there was a problem, that situation would have been rectified,” Lobban said. “I would have taken the steps to make sure.”

She noted that the Crown was ready to proceed with the case and that four of the nine witnesses that will be called by the Crown during the trial were present.

After satisfying himself that the papers were not delivered, Justice Campbell scheduled the trial for the next session of the Trelawny Circuit Court which will begin on February 17 next year.

Whitmore’s $200,000 bail was also extended.

The wily footballer was arrested and charged in June after a six-member all-female jury found him criminally responsible for last January’s death of his team-mate Steven “Shorty” Malcolm in a car accident.

Malcolm was travelling in Whitmore’s Toyota motor car when the vehicle crashed into an embankment and overturned on the Spring Hill main road in Trelawny.

Meanwhile, a number of jurors who were in court yesterday expressed disappointment that the trial did not begin.

“This is a waste of time and money,” one juror remarked.

“Mi boss might soon fire mi, mi lef’ me work and come here fi nothing,” another said.