KINGSTON, Jamaica — Justice Leighton Pusey has ruled in the Home Circuit Court in Kingston that Constable Noel Maitland has a case to answer in relation to the charges of murder and preventing the lawful burial of a corpse.

Justice Pusey’s ruling means that the fate of the policeman will now be determined by a seven-member jury, which will decide whether he is convicted and sent to prison or acquitted and released from police custody.

The ruling relates to the July 12, 2022 disappearance of Maitland’s social media influencer girlfriend, Donna-Lee Donaldson, who was 24 years old at the time she went missing.

Donaldson was last seen at the Chelsea Manor apartment complex in St Andrew, where Maitland lived.

Maitland’s attorneys made an application for a no-case submission on Thursday, which Justice Pusey considered before delivering his decision Friday morning.

READ: Maitland’s attorneys make no-case submission

The judge expressed hope that Maitland’s defence team will be ready to proceed on Monday when the matter resumes.

Prosecutors are hoping that a string of circumstantial evidence, including blood belonging to Donaldson that was found in Maitland’s apartment, will be sufficient to secure a conviction.