JAMAICAN basketball player Kimani Ffriend, fighting for his freedom in Serbian courts, will have a new trial in his vehicular manslaughter case.

The 37-year-old will return to court on July 13, after his recent appeal against his three-year sentence failed to bring closure, forcing judge Slavko Jankovic to order a new trial.

Ffriend, a former LA Clippers centre, said from his home in the Serbian capital of Belgrade that the deadlock in his appeals case could not be broken as there were clear “inconsistencies” and “mistakes” in the original trial.

“I am happy and feel a little vindicated with the outcome with appellation because their decision showed that there was inconsistencies with my case and that mistakes were made.

“But at the same time, I am a little disappointed because now I have to wait for a new trial not knowing with certainty when all of this will be finished. But now, as always, I have to continue to stay in faith and trust God in these matters,” Ffriend told the Jamaica Observer yesterday. Ffriend, who is a former Jamaica player, was sentenced after he was found liable by the Belgrade High Court for what it termed a “severe act against public traffic safety” that resulted in the death of 29-year-old Nevena Dragutinovic on the night of November 3, 2012.

The Jamaican, who has had success in the NBA and other basketball leagues around the world, was arrested and charged after the Skoda Fabia motorcar he was driving on a rainy Belgrade night hit the victim.

Throughout the trial, Ffriend’s defence maintained that a drunken Dragutinovic — who was out partying with her twin sister and friends the night before and into the pre-dawn hours of the day after — had stepped into the path of the vehicle.

Dragutinovic was later found to have an excessive blood alcohol level of 2.0.

Ffriend reportedly told police that he had tried to avoid a taxi that was in the right lane and that he had swerved into the left lane and ended up hitting the victim.

According to reports, the basketball player was driving under the influence, with a reported 0.98 0 of alcohol in his blood as determined via a breathalyser test administered by the police.

The highly publicised trial and the eventual outcome, which captured the imagination of the Serbian people, did not sit well with Ffriend’s legal team led by Jugoslav Tintor, and an appeal was immediately filed in the appellate court in Belgrade after the September 2014 verdict and sentencing.

Ffriend was not committed to serve his time in a traditional prison, but was confined to house arrest where he had to wear a GPS-tracked ankle bracelet.

But in a surprise move last week Thursday at the end of the appeals hearing, Judge Jankovic ordered that Ffriend’s bracelet be removed, allowing him to freely move outside.

Though his legal battles are by no means over, the Jamaican is taking his new privileges in stride.

“I am blessed to be free after more than two-and-a-half years being incarcerated, so now I can find a little solace knowing I can go outside and train and do normal stuff and try to integrate myself back into society,” he told the Observer.

Ffriend was originally in Serbia to play for the Valjevo-based Metalac basketball club and his troubles started the same day he partied ways with the outfit to make a move to Spanish franchise CB Valladolid.