Commencement of Ex-BVI Premier Fahie’s Trial Braces for Legal Hurdles

The trial of Andrew Fahie, the former Premier of the British Virgin Islands, is scheduled to begin today in the Southern District of Florida, facing charges of drug trafficking, money laundering, and racketeering conspiracy. However, the commencement could be postponed due to a pending judicial decision on a defense motion aimed at limiting evidence admissibility.

Defense attorney Theresa Van Vliet has filed a motion challenging the use of evidence extracted from Fahie’s mobile phone. This development follows the government’s submission, on December 11, of an extensive exhibit list that includes recorded conversations between Fahie and alleged accomplices Oleanvine and Kadeem Maynard, both of whom have admitted guilt in the purported scheme.

Van Vliet contends that the prosecutors’ plan to present a comprehensive data extraction from Fahie’s devices, notably a Note 10+ mobile phone and a Surface tablet, is unnecessarily extensive and irrelevant, potentially overburdening the case with data not pertinent to the charges.

Particularly, Van Vliet highlights the inclusion of personal information, including matters related to Fahie’s family health treatments. She further notes the potential inclusion of official communications from Fahie’s tenure as BVI’s head of government, which are unrelated to the allegations.

The defense also questions the appropriateness of revealing Fahie’s complete contact list, his text conversations with his assistant, and an extensive text chat with his building contractor, spanning 513 pages.

Van Vliet has raised concerns over the disclosure of communications between Fahie and BVI Police Commissioner Mark Collins, as well as a redacted text chain with the National Security Council, questioning if the British Virgin Islands Government was consulted regarding potential confidentiality or privacy issues.

Additionally, the defense seeks clarification on certain statements by Fahie, deemed potentially exculpatory, regarding plans to have a DEA informant arrested upon arrival in Tortola. While government lawyers dismissed these as hearsay, Van Vliet argues for their admissibility, paralleling them with similar nature communications sought by the prosecution.

The latest exhibit list, filed on January 25, indicates the prosecution’s intent to use the full data from Fahie’s devices. Not mentioned in Van Vliet’s motion, but also planned for evidence, are complete data images from devices belonging to Kadeem Maynard and his mother Oleanvine.

Ms. Maynard is expected to testify against Fahie once the trial proceeds and is currently awaiting her sentencing post-guilty plea. Kadeem Maynard has already commenced a 57-month imprisonment sentence, received last November.