By LEDEDRA MARCHE

Senior FN Reporter

lededra@nasguard.com

With the anniversary of the death of 16-year-old Jett Travolta just past, and reports of attempts being made to have the case tried in Florida, lawyers here say the move is not likely.

Former Senator Pleasant Bridgewater and Ambu-lance Driver Tarino Light-bourne were tried in a Supreme Court last year before Senior Justice Anita Allen for allegedly attempting to extort $25 million from the teen's parents, John Travolta and Kelly Preston, following his death at their vacation home in West End.

The Travoltas came here with Jett and his younger sister Ella Bleu arriving on December 30, 2008 and were staying at their vacation home at Old Bahama Bay at Ginn sur Mer.

An autopsy report revealed that Jett, who had reportedly fell and hit his head in the bathtub, died from a seizure. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Lightbourne, 47, now a former ambulance driver at the Rand Memorial Hospital, and Attorney Bridgewater, 48, who was allegedly acting on his behalf, are accused of allegedly threatening to re-lease a Refusal of Treat-ment/Transportation form Travolta signed after re-questing paramedics to take his son to the airport.

Lightbourne was charged with attempted extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion and was represented by Attorneys Shurland and Mary Bain. Bridgewater was charged with abetment to extort and conspiracy to extort and was represented by Attorney Murio Ducille.

Travolta was represented by U.S. attorney Michael Ossi.

The five-week-long trial, which began in September, ended in Senior Justice Anita Allen ordering a retrial after South Andros MP Picewell Forbes announced on national TV and radio during a Progressive Liberal Party Con-vention that former PLP Senator Bridgewater had been acquitted of the attempted extortion charges while the jury was still deliberating.

Back in October, U.S. media, including the New York Post, reported that Travolta was hoping to transfer the extortion case to Jacksonville, Florida.

Ossi is quoted as saying, "I have asked the Bahamian authorities to preserve all the evidence for the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) to review, and I have written to the federal government and the Bahamian government about trying the case in Florida. The original call was made from the Bahamas to Florida, so there is jurisdiction for a trial in the U.S."

But lawyers here say such a move is highly unlikely and argue there is no jurisdiction.

Attorney Simeon Brown, who practices criminal law, says allowing the move would set a dangerous president.

"Firstly, I don't think it should happen. I don't think we should allow the complainant who is essentially a non-Bahamian to move a case outside of The Bahamas which relates to events that allegedly occurred within The Bahamas," Brown said.

"If The Bahamas government was to allow (the move) it would be a dangerous president for Bahamians. I think it would be a total disrespect for the integrity of the judicial justice system in our Baha-mas.

Brown questioned whether it is a question of whether the case can be fairly tried within The Bahamas.

"If Mr. Travolta is saying that the case cannot be fairly tried within The Bahamas then he must be called into account for his reasons for making that statement. The Constitution of The Bahamas guarantees each person who is accused of a crime a fair trial within a reasonable time," Brown said.

Brown noted that it is essentially the same guarantee that the Constitution of the United States of America affords to persons in the United States.

Attorney Shurland entirely dismissed the question.

"That's the most ridiculous suggestion I have ever heard and it's also an insult to our judiciary too and its only a diplomatic way of insulting our judges, prosecutors, police our jury – everything that makes our system works," he said.

Shurland maintains the issue is not extortion, but has always been one of distraction and deception.

He added that the real issue is the circumstances surrounding Jett's death.

"Why was there no coroner's inquest and why did the West End Police not follow protocol in ascertaining whether there was suspicious circumstances surrounding the young man's injury at the scene," he further questioned.

"Once you explore those avenues, you will see that there are a lot of questions that need to be answered as to how this young man came to be dead on the scene."

While Jett was not pronounced on the scene, Shurland said all of the signs of death were very evident and charged that nobody from the police queried the circumstances surrounding the condition of the body at the time.

"So when we talk about extortion and moving things to Florida, that is merely to keep you off balance and keep you away from really digging into what was the real cause of death and whether there was negligence or anything suspicious that the nannies may account for," he said.

Bridgewater's Attorney, Ducile, insisting there is no evidence to suggest that there is an infringement on the jurisdiction of the U.S., said Travolta is being ill advised.

With no date set yet for a retrial, Attorney Ducile said the wise thing to do would be for the prosecution to drop the charges in the matter.

"The evidence has been revealed to show that really there is nothing to suggest that this young lady, or anybody for that matter, committed any offence of attempted extortion," he said.

"So I'm sure after it has been carefully reviewed wisdom would dictate that the matter would come to an end."

Like Lightbourne's defence team, Ducile is adamant the charge was a distraction to shift the focus from where it ought to have been.

"I don't want to get into any specifics, but all I can say is that my client has been wrongly persecuted and she has still been agonizing because it has been really a traumatic experience and something that she totally had not conceived could have happened to her," he said.