ST. THOMAS, USVI- V.I. Superior Court Judge Leon Kendall issued a warrant on Monday (Feb. 2) to have an Assistant Attorney General arrested after the prosecutor failed to show up in Court at the scheduled time.
The AAG, Jesse Bethel, was more than 10 minutes late to a change of plea hearing in a murder case that afternoon.
Kendall’s action was condemned by V.I. Attorney General Vincent Frazer who referred to the judge’s deed as “abuse of judicial discretion”. He said the judge had overacted by having Bethel arrested when a fine would have sufficed as penalty.
The judge defended his decision to issue the arrest warrant for the absentee prosecutor, saying Bethel was habitually ‘missing in action’ and he (Kendall) had had enough of the attorney’s behavior.
With a bail amount set at $10,000 by Kendall, Bethel was forced to spend the night in jail.
US Virgin Islands News