Munga Honorable’s lawyer hoping for trial date soon
Embattled dancehall star Munga Honorable will find out when he goes to court today if the case management aspect of his pre-trial is complete, paving the way for a trial date to be finally set. The entertainer, whose given name is Damian Rhoden, is charged in connection with the 2017 murder of Cleveland Smith, who was shot dead along Molynes Road, Kingston 20.
His matter has been at the case management phase since June 2019. Munga Honorable’s lawyer, Christopher Townsend, explained to the THE WEEKEND STAR that case management is set up for the purposes of getting the case ready for trial, and seemed confident that his client will soon have his day in court.
“The expectations are that the trial date will be set very soon. What we are trying to achieve is trial certainty. For trial certainty, you don’t set a matter for trial and you know it’s not ready and there are tons of things that need to be done. The case has to go through the court and get to the point where it is now ready,” Townsend said.
Regarding his client’s continued bail extension, he noted that “whenever you appear before the court, your bail is rescinded”.
“On each occasion, your bail is extended until the next court date,” he said. Munga Honorable was granted bail in June 2017 in the sum of $500,000. Townsend stressed that the Nah Mad deejay “has turned around his life significantly”, and is in very good spirits and is busy making new music.
“Munga is in studio. He has embraced his new lease on life with his new hits and is patiently waiting for this to be over,” he said.
The police report that Smith, who was the nephew of dancehall star Mr Vegas, was accosted by a group of men, one of whom was reportedly armed with a gun, at a dance in Ackee Walk, St Andrew. An altercation ensued between them and Smith was shot. He was then rushed to the Kingston Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Smith, who was said to be of unsound mind, had reportedly chopped Munga Honorable as the artiste sat with friends in Jackson Town, close to Ackee Walk, in 2015, two years before the incident which cost him his life.