Mr Justice John Hedigan in the High Court will rule today on a Limerick man’s bid to have his trial for murder adjourned to next year. John Dundon’s trial is due to open before the non-jury Special Criminal Court next Tuesday.
Dundon’s lawyers claim they have been “ambushed” in being given by gardaí in recent weeks a large volume of material, including CCTV footage and documentation, which they have had insufficient time to analyse in terms of its relevance to his defence. It is claimed Dundon’s right to a fair trial is at risk and the trial should be deferred to 2014.
Dundon (29), Hyde Road, Limerick, is charged with the murder of Shane Geoghegan at Dooradoyle, Limerick, in November 2008.
In his High Court action against the Special Criminal Court, Mr Dundon is seeking orders and declarations including one quashing the that court’s refusal to grant an adjournment.
Temporary injunction
He is also seeking a temporary injunction preventing his trial getting under way until his High Court action has been determined. The DPP has opposed the application.
Dundon’s lawyers had asked the Special Criminal Court to adjourn the trial until 2014 but the State objected because of concerns over the security of a proposed prosecution witness in the case. The court refused to adjourn.
It is claimed the Special Criminal Court erred in law and breached fair procedures and Dundon’s constitutional rights by refusing to grant an adjournment.
Martin O’Rourke SC, for Dundon, said it would be impossible to go through all the material furnished by the Garda before June 4th. It was estimated it would take 500 working days to read through the material disclosed to solicitors Madden & Finucane at the beginning of the month.
Mr O’Rourke said the guidelines in respect of the discovery of material in advance of a criminal trial had not been complied with. The timing and the manner of discovery amounted to an “ambush”, he said.