A man accused of fatally stabbing his common-law wife in front of their four children a decade ago should not stand trial for her murder because of the delay in bringing the case to trial, his lawyer argued yesterday.

Leo Roderick Johnson, 50, was charged with the August 19, 2006 murder of Erica Fowler, an assistant librarian at The Tribune, days after her death.

He was arraigned before the Supreme Court the following year but the case remained dormant until 2014 when a trial date was set for October 24, 2016 before then Senior Justice Jon Isaacs.

Johnson filed a constitutional motion seeking to have the case permanently stayed on the basis of delay, one month before the scheduled start of the trial.

Senior Justice Stephen Isaacs, who inherited the case, heard the motion yesterday.

Attorney Crystal Rolle, of Murrio Ducille and Associates, said that Johnson had been prejudiced by the delay as he had been unable to contact witnesses.

The prosecutor, Basil Cumberbatch, acknowledged that the delay had been excessive, but he said that Johnson had not been prejudiced by the delay.

Cumberbatch noted that back in 2006 and 2007 there were fewer criminal courts to deal with the backlog.

Since then, 10 criminal courts have been added.

Cumberbatch said that Johnson had failed to provide the prosecution with his alibi after his arraignment and that the incident had occurred in front of his children, who were all ready to testify when the trial was called up earlier this week.

Artesia Davis, Guardian Senior Reporter

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