Bush faces December trial for assault
(CNS): Speaker William McKeeva Bush is now expected to stand trial on 7 December for three assault charges and one count of disorderly conduct. The veteran politician and West Bay representative is accused of beating up a female manager at a Seven Mile Beach bar during what was said to be a drunken evening in February. Bush denied the charges last month, and in Summary Court on Friday the provisional trial date was set for the end of the year.
Bush’s attorney, Michael Alberga, told the court that because of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States he had still not been able to find a service there that could assist with clarity on the video evidence submitted by the crown.
Director of Public Prosecutions Patrick Moran told the court that the crown has submitted three pieces of video evidence that cover around five relevant minutes of the incident, which lasted around 20 to 25 minutes. He said two of the pieces of footage had been recorded in good light and were clear and only one piece could be said to be less so.
Magistrate Valdis Foldats set another case management date to ensure that the trial stayed on track. Bush was excused from that hearing and bound over to appear on 7 December, when the trial is now set to start and will last at least two days.
Since his arrest, Bush has been on an undefined leave of absence from his high office as Sspeaker of the Legislative Assembly. However, he remains on full pay, as is the case for all public officials suspended from their job while legal proceedings are completed.
Bush, as the longest serving member of the House and a former premier, is believed to be one of the highest, if not the highest, paid MLAs, given that he has served several more terms that the premier, who may be the only MLA earning more when expenses and allowances are taken into account.
While a recent freedom of information request by the Cayman Compass failed to establish the exact salaries of the members of the LA within the latest public sector pay brackets, other sources of information have led to a reasonable estimate that Bush is earning over $200,000 per annum plus expenses and allowances.
The speaker is also understood to have drawn down on his parliamentary pension, as legislators were at one point able to access a lump sum or a monthly payment from their pension while still working after reaching the age of 55. Bush said in 2012, as reported by CNS, that he and the other members of the Legislative Assembly who were receiving their pensions while still serving in the House had earned those benefits and there was nothing illegal or immoral about what they were doing.
