KINGSTON, Jamaica— The trial of three Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) soldiers who were charged with the March 2010 murder of businessman Keith Clarke failed to get underway as scheduled on Monday.

The delay is as a result of an application for a stay in the matter.

The application is set to be heard on Tuesday by the Court of Appeal.

The judge in the ruling said that the main thing is to show fairness to all concerned in the matter.

He added that it doesn’t appear to him to be prudent to have a jury empanelled today.

READ: Keith Clarke trial now set to begin on April 29

The case has been in the courts since 2012 when the Director of Public Prosecutions ruled that the soldiers — Lance Corporals Greg Tingling and Odel Buckley as well as Private Arnold Henry —be charged with murder.

Clarke was allegedly shot 21 times by the soldiers on March 27, 2010 at his house on Kirkland Close in St Andrew during a police-military operation to apprehend then fugitive Christopher “Dudus” Coke.

The trial of the soldiers was set to begin in 2018; however, it was stalled after immunity certificates were presented by JDF lawyers which shielded them from prosecution for their actions during the operation.