Bid to block statement in Ruddock trial fails

AN attempt by the defence to have trial Judge Leighton Pusey rule against admitting into evidence a caution statement and a question-and-answer document linked to murder accused Andre Ruddock failed on Tuesday, clearing the way for the trial to resume.

The seven-member jury hearing the case in the Home Circuit Court, downtown Kingston was sent out last week to facilitate a voir dire, which is essentially a trial within a trial, following a strenuous objection by defence attorney Anthony Williams to prosecutor LaToya Bernard’s bid to have the documents admitted into evidence.

After Pusey ruled that the documents should be admitted, Bernard continued her examination-in-chief of a detective corporal who video recorded both the caution statement and the question-and-answer session of Ruddock admitting to cutting the throat of 39-year-old Taneka Gardner on October 17, 2021 at Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries in Albion, St James.