Lindsay Shiver’s attorneys may struggle to defend her in a trial held in the Bahamas on charges she that she conspired to have her estranged husband killed, according to an attorney.
Criminal defense attorney Rachel Fiset, managing partner of Los Angeles-based Zweiback, Fiset & Zalduendo, spoke to Newsweek about the difficulties Shiver’s defense team will face due to the differences between the local judiciary system and that in the U.S.
Lindsay Shiver, 36, a U.S. citizen, is accused of unsuccessfully conspiring with two Bahama natives to kill her husband, Robert Shiver, 38, months after the couple filed for divorce.
Lindsay Shiver and her alleged accomplices, Terrance Bethal, who is thought to be her lover, and another man, Faron Newbold, were arrested by the Royal Bahamas Police Force after they learned of the alleged plot.
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They now face a charge for conspiracy to commit murder and they may also face an attempted murder charge under the laws of the Bahamas, according to Fiset.
Fiset also highlighted that based on the differences between the U.S. judicial system and the Bahamian, the prosecution could have an easier job having Shiver and her alleged conspirators convicted.
“Bahamian law allows for prosecution of the conspiracy if there is an agreement or an act in furtherance of a common criminal purpose. [This] is easier to prove than most United States jurisdictions that require both an agreement and an action in furtherance of a common criminal purpose,” Fiset said when asked how strong a case the prosecution could have in a trial.
“The standard [of] evidence gathered thus far may allow the prosecution to show that the intent to murder existed along with the agreement to do so.”
She also noted that while Shiver is an American citizen, the alleged crime took place in the Bahamas and a trial in that country is likely as investigators from the country gather more evidence.
“Lindsay Shiver is going to face a criminal justice system she is less familiar with, where she may be subject to harsher statutory schemes under which she is prosecuted and harsher penalties,” Fiset added.
“As she is not a citizen of the Bahamas—and a flight risk—she has been placed under monitoring and cannot leave the country to return to the United States in the near future.”
Shiver’s defense attorney, Ian Cargill has said the suspect’s bail was set at $100,000 and she has now been released, according to a CNN report.
She must now remain in the Bahamas and wear an ankle monitoring device until her next court appearance on October 5, Cargill said.
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