A man set to appear before Bermuda's courts on two counts of attempted murder is currently fighting extradition from the US.

Jahmel Blakeney, son of Government Minister Glenn Blakeney, appeared in US District Court in Brooklyn yesterday.

He told Chief Magistrate Judge Steven Gold that he would not waive extradition.

This means he plans to legally challenge being sent back to Bermuda to answer the charges of attempting to murder Renee Kuchler and Shaki Minors outside Southside Cinema on November 13, 2009.

The couple were shot around 11.20 p.m. as they left a late showing of the film 'Precious'. Both have recovered from their injuries.

Blakeney, 28, has been in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since early June when the courts denied his bail application.

Soon after the Southside shooting last year Blakeney was arrested in Bermuda, but was granted Police bail.

He subsequently left the Island on November 30 and failed to return to answer his bail. The Bermuda Police Service then tracked him down to the New York residence.

The Royal Gazette understands it will now be up to the US Courts to determine if there is sufficient evidence for Blakeney to be extradited. The District Attorney, similar to the Crown counsel on Island, will rely on evidence from the Bermuda Department of Public Prosecutions to make the case for extradition. A date for the next hearing has not yet been set.

If an extradition order is granted the US Government and Bermuda Government will have to come to an agreement as to whether US Marshals escort him to the Island or Bermudian officers fly to the US to escort Blakeney home. Within the last decade there have been a handful of extraditions from the US to Bermuda.

A second man, Sanchey Grant, 19, from Warwick, is also accused of attempted murder in relation to the same incident. Grant denied the charges in Bermuda's Supreme Court earlier this month. A date for his trial has not yet been set.