Judge facing DUI charge remains on bench
Justice Ingrid Mangatal
(CNS): The chief justice’s office has confirmed that Justice Ingrid Mangatal, who is facing DUI and careless driving charges, is still sitting on the judicial bench. However, the judge will be on leave at the end of next week, when she is scheduled to appear in Summary Court to answer the charges in front of a specially appointed visiting magistrate. Chief Justice Anthony Smellie has invited the Acting Governor Franz Manderson to appoint a magistrate from overseas to preside over the case.
On the advice of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, Manderson has agreed to the appointment of Senior Magistrate Juan Wolffe of Bermuda. He is expected to arrive in Cayman next Tuesday to be sworn in on Wednesday and prepare for the hearing on Thursday.
Officials stated that in the meantime, Justice Mangatal “continues as usual to perform the demanding duties of her office as Judge of the Grand Court”.
The 53-year-old judge was arrested last year on suspicion of driving under the influence and careless driving after her car collided with a wall in a single-vehicle collision on the West Bay Road at around 10pm on the night of 4 September. She was charged on Friday, six months after the incident, and is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday, 15 March.
