Three weeks until man learns if he’ll go on trial in St. Lucia

It will be three weeks before Sahab Jamshidi learns whether he will face trial in St. Lucia.

A sufficiency hearing for the Hamilton man — charged in the Feb. 22 drowning death of a fouryear-old St. Lucian boy — has been adjourned until May 13, family friend Stephen Verbeek said from court Friday.

Jamshidi is charged with gross negligence or recklessness causing death in the death of TJ Elibox, who drowned at the beach during a church outing on the island’s Independence Day.

Conflicting stories continue to circulate the island about what happened to TJ.

Police allege the boy drowned after the vacationing Jamshidi took him out into the water on his kite board. Jamshidi — a trained doctor — maintains he was on the water kite-surfing when he saw TJ drowning, and called for help after he failed to rescue him.

It’s unclear what exactly the evidence shows.

Even when Jamshidi, 34, arrived in court Friday morning — supported by family and friends who’d flown down from Canada — he and lawyer Alberton Richelieu had yet to see the details of the police evidence against him.

On Thursday, the family posted a statement to social media urging the St. Lucian government and police “to respect their own legislation” and provide disclosure.

In court Friday, Verbeek said the judge ordered the director of public prosecutions to disclose the case to Jamshidi and his lawyer ahead of the May 13 hearing.

Verbeek says the family is trying to remain optimistic.

“The mood’s a bit lighter today. Believe it or not, a May 13 adjournment is much better news than we were anticipating,” Verbeek said, noting cases there can be put over for several months at a time.