building where a Supreme Court trial was about to begin.

But it appeared the trial would not have begun in any case. After the jurors were dismissed, lawyer Mr. Delroy Duncan asked to be removed from the case at the request of his client, Michael Wayne Brown.

Puisne Judge the Hon. Mr. Justice Ward reluctantly granted an adjournment until January 4 to give Brown time to get a new lawyer.

But he warned the case had now been set for trial four times and not begun, and he questioned whether Brown was "playing games with the system''.

Brown, 30, of King Street, is charged with possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply and possession of drug equipment. The offences are alleged to have occurred on October 26 in Bermuda.

The case had earlier been scheduled for trial on May 5, August 24, and August 26. Mr. Justice Ward noted Brown had already switched lawyers once.

"You see, Mr. Brown, you create the impression that you are playing games with the system,'' said the judge. "That may not be the case, but that is the impression that is created.'' In August, Mr. Justice Ward noted, a jury had to be dismissed after it was sworn in. "We can't really operate the court like that,'' he said. "Every time we get going, we have to stop just to accommodate you.'' While granting Brown the adjournment to January, when a new trial date is to be set, Mr. Justice Ward ordered the man remanded in custody. "If you are entirely on your own, I do not know what will happen'' with respect to instructing a new lawyer, he said. And, "I do not believe in wasting time.'' Mr. Justice Ward, who sent a message to send the jurors home until Monday before he opened court, made no mention of the fire alarm in addressing Brown.

Just before the case was to begin, a prison officer smelled smoke at the opposite end of the corridor from the second-storey courtroom, and the fire department was called.

Lt. Jon Thompson of the Bermuda Fire Service said a call was received at 9.39 a.m., but the crew could not locate the origin of the smell.

Mr. Duncan made his first court appearance yesterday since experiencing problems with the Department of Immigration over his work permit.

I wish you had not publicised it,'' he told a reporter from The Royal Gazette . "I have no comment.'' The English lawyer had been unable to appear in court since he left the law firm of Hall, Duncan and Trott last month. He had been waiting for his work permit to be transferred to his new firm.

The Hon. Mr. Justice Ward.