The Court of Appeal on Tuesday reserved its decision on whether the reduction of jury challenges without cause has violated a murder suspect's right to a fair trial.

Attorney Murrio Ducille yesterday argued that Valentino Yustare, who is accused of the December 23, 2009 murder of Raymond Morley at the Golden Gates Shopping Plaza, has been disadvantaged by an amendment to the Juries Act, which reduces the number of peremptory challenges from 10 to four in murder cases. Peremptory challenges for other offenses have been reduced from seven to two.

Ducille argued that the November 2014 amendment should not be applied retroactively as 10 challenges without cause were permitted at his arraignment. However, Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Vernal Collie argued that the constitutional right to a fair trial was still intact.

Collie said the amendment was procedural, but the right to challenges with cause remained. Earlier this year, Justice Bernard Turner ruled that the amendment did not prejudice Yustare's right to a fair trial. Yustare's trial has been adjourned to January 2016.

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