resume today after it was adjourned yesterday because a key witness was off the Island.

Noel Kenneth Bascome, of Friswell's Road, Pembroke, denies the charge and also pleaded not guilty to causing death by driving while impaired and failing to provide a breath test.

He is accused of causing the death of front seat passenger Sybil Aileen Belboda, 71.

Ms Belboda died from head injuries a week after the taxi she was riding in struck a lamppost on Middle Road in Warwick on December 28, 1998.

Yesterday a Supreme Court jury was sworn in but Assistant Justice Philip Storr delayed the trial as Accident Investigation Officer Chief Inspector Roger Kendall was away at a conference.

Bascome, 44, was remanded on $3,500 bail.